Cfte  JLibtatg 

of  tl)C 

CHnit3er0itp  of  iQortI)  Catolina 


Collection  ot  jRotti)  CaroUniana 
3o8n  feptunt  l^ill 

of  ti)e  eiai0)9  of  1889 


C6 


■Ill 

00031708901 
This  booh  must  not 

he   taken   from   the 

Library  building. 


£^BIEI1^^  JAfDIKSOK", 


PHK;:'I.F.T.1T  F.I.lv-T    'F'mK  T^MITED 'J.TATES    OFN.A. 


iniiuved  try  J  W  ^iteel    for  Uie  Jackson  Wreath 


rnnnJ  Kv-'^rmrr- 


THE 


/r>v» 


-L    \ 


r^WitiotmC^^i^^ 


GLOB-T,  GRATITUDE.  PATRIOTISl.i 


llllllk^ 


■^ 


PHEL  ABE  IL.FHIA 


p-utlished  hj  Jacob  Maas,  Traxiklia  liLol-ainiiQ" Office  Ai'cade. 


fnnttd  ly  J.  nUcr 


TIIK 


JACKSON  WREATH, 


NATIONAL  SOUVENlll 


•GLORY,  GRATITUDE,  PATRIOTISM."' 


A  NATIONAL  TRIBUTE, 

COMMEMORATIVE    OF    THE    GREAT    CIVIL    VICTORY    ACHIEVED 
BY  THE  PEOPLE,  THROUGH  THE  HERO  OF  NEW  ORLEANS. 


CONTAINING 

A    BIOGUAraiCAL    SKETCH    OF    GlCXiiHAI,    JACKSON    CXTIL    1819. 

By  KOIJERT  WALSH,  J  u.  EsaR. 

WITH  A 

CONTIADATIOZS   UJ^TIL  THE  I'HKSE^iT  HAY,  KMHllACING  A  VIEW  OF  THE   UE- 

t£:5rT  rOEITICAL  SJgaLfil^LE. 

BY  DR.  JAMES  M'HENRY. 


— ©a©— 


rniLADELPIlIA : 

PUBLISHED  BY  JACOB  MAAS,  FRANKLIN  ENGRAVING  OFFICE, 

65,   ARCADE. 

"William  W.  Weelis,  Printer. 

"18297 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


In  offering  to  the  patronage  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  the  present  work,  intended  as  a  tri- 
bute to  the  personal  virtues  and  public  services  of 
the  distinguished  individual  whom  they  have  just 
chosen  to  fill  the  highest  office  in  their  government, 
the  publisher  flatters  himself  that  he  performs  a 
service  which  will  obtain  their  approbation  and 
support.  To  encourage  the  arts  when  they  are 
employed  in  doing  honour  to  those  who  have  done 
honour  to  their  country,  cannot  be  unworthy  of  a 
patriotic  and  cultivated  people.  In  the  effort 
now  made  to  form  a  wreath  consecrated  to  the 
name  of  the  illustrious  jackson,  the  publisher 
has  been  impelled  by  his  feelings,  as  well  as  by  a 
conviction  of  what  was  due  to  the  task  he  had 
imdertaken,  to  regard  neither  trouble  nor  expense 
in  its  accomplishment.    That  among  our  nu- 


iv  ADVERTISEMENT. 

merous  living  worthies,  one  could  have  been 
selected  more  capable  of  exciting  the  enthusiasm 
of  an  American  Artist,  more  deserving  of  be- 
ing celebrated  by  American  skill  or  industry,  or 
the  celebration  of  whom  w^ould  be  more  grateful 
to  the  ximerican  people,  it  is  believed  that  few 
will  assert.  Conscious  of  his  incapacity  to  do 
this  magnificent  subject  entire  justice,  the  pub- 
lisher submits  it  with  much  diffidence  and  anxi- 
ety, to  the  patriotism  of  the  nation,  entreating 
those  who  may  be  inclined  to  undervalue  his 
performance,  to  permit  his  motives  for  underta- 
king it,  to  mitigate  the  severity  of  their  censures; 
and  to  remember  that,  although  neither  his  de- 
sign nor  its  execution  may  have  received  that 
high  finish  of  splendid  perfection  of  which  it  is 
susceptible,  it  required  both  zeal  and  persever- 
ance to  make  it  what  it  is.  That  it  is  not  totally 
unworthy  of  its  subject  and  of  the  public  sup- 
port, it  is  a  satisfaction  to  know  that  many  indi- 
viduals distinguished  for  fine  taste  and  accurate 
judgment,  have  already  pronounced ;  and  it  is 
fondly  believed  that  to  a  very  large  majority  of 
the  American  people,  it  will  be  acceptable  from 


A-DVEIITISE^IEXT.  >• 

\he  consideration  that  every  tribute  of  this  na- 
ture, paid  to  a  public  benefactor, is  a  public  good, 
because  it  excites  ardent  and  able  minds  to  imi- 
tate the  exalted  worth  and  admired  conduct  by 
which  it  was  earned. 

JACOB  MAAS. 

Phllad.  Feb.  22,  1829. 


vii 


CONTENTS. 

Advertisement iii. 

Biography  of  General  Jackson, 

By  RoBT.  Walsh  Jr.  Esqr.         -        -  9 

Remarks  of  the  Publisher       -         -         -  -     56 

Continuation  of  the  Biography, 

By  Dr.  James  M^Henry       -        -  -    57 

A  Dirge,  to  the  Memory  of  Mrs.  Jackson,  ibid.  84 

Description  of  the  Capitol  at  Washington  97 


PLATES. 

1st  Portrait  of  Andrew  Jackson. 

2d   Engraved  Title  Page. 

3d   The  Golden  Wreath. 

4th  The  Battle  af  New  Orleans. 

5th  The  Hermitage. 

6th  The  Capitol. 

7th  Jackson  Grand  March  and  Quick  Step- 

8th  Map  of  the  United  States. 


^■-f. 


.  ^ 


BIOGRAPHY 


OP 


GENERAL  ANDREW  JACKSON, 


With  the  exception  of  the  name  of  the  transcendent 
Washington,  the  annals  of  the  United  States,  as  yet,  afford 
none  possessed  of  so  much  eclat  as  that  of  Andrew  Jack- 
son. Considering  this,  together  with  the  real  magnitude 
and  variety  of  his  public  services,  it  is  surprising  that  the 
story  of  his  life  should  not  be  more  universally  known. 
At  the  present  time,  his  character  and  achievements 
derive  peculiar  interest  from  the  important  relation  in 
which  he  stands  to  the  American  people,  as  their  Chief 
Magistrate.  Down  to  the  termination  of  the  siege  of  New 
Orleans,  the  most  brilliant  era  of  his  career— we  have  abun- 
dant materials  for  a  correct  notice  of  him,  in  a  volume  en- 
titled, the  life  of  Andrew  Jackson,  and  published  in  1817, 
by  an  officer,  who  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  being  near  his 
person  during  his  campaigns.  Authentic  documents  ex- 
tant in  newspapers  and  Journals,  enable  us  to  continue 
the  outline  to  the  present  time  ;  and  with  regard  to  perso- 
nal qualities  and  manners,  he  is  so  well  and  widely  known 
in  social  circles,  that  a  faithful  representation  is  almost 


2 


10  BIOGRAPHY    OP 

inevitable.  We  shall  confine  ourselves  to  a  plain  recital, 
not  more  circumstantial  than  may  be  necessary  for  our 
principal  design. 

Andrew  Jackson  is  of  Irish  parentage.  His  father 
and  mother  emigrated  to  South  Carolina,  in  the  year  1765, 
with  two  sons,  both  j^oung,  and  purchased  a  tract  of  land, 
on  which  they  settled,  in  what  was  then  called  the  Waxaw 
settlement,  about  forty-five  miles  above  Camden.  Here 
was  born,  on  the  15th  March,  in  the  year  1767,  Andrew, 
the  subject  of  the  present  sketch.  His  father  died  soon 
after,  leaving  the  three  children  to  be  provided  for  by  the 
mother,  a  woman  who  would  seem  to  have  possessed 
excellent  feelings  and  considerable  strength  of  mind. 
The  scantiness  of  their  patrimony  allowed  only  one  of 
them  to  be  liberally  educated ;  and  this  was  Andrew, 
whom  she  destined  for  the  sacred  ministry.  He  was  sent 
to  a  flourishing  academy  in  the  settlement,  where  he  re- 
mained, occupied  with  the  dead  languages,  until  the  revo- 
lutionary war  brought  an  enemy  into  his  neighbourhood, 
whose  approach  left  no  alternative  but  the  choice  of  the 
British  or  American  banners.  The  intrepid  and  ardent 
boy,  encouraged  by  his  patriotic  mother,  hastened,  at  the 
age  of  fourteen,  in  compan}^  with  one  of  his  brothers,  to 
the  American  camp,  and  enlisted  in  the  service  of  his 
country.  The  eldest  of  the  three,  had  already  lost  his 
life  in  the  same  service,  at  the  battle  of  Stono.  The 
survivors,  Andrew  and  Robert,  having  been  suffered  to 
attend  the  country  drill  and  general  musters,  were  not 
unacquainted  with  the  manual  exercise  and  field  evolu- 
tions. 

After  retiring  into  North  Carolina,  before  the  British 
army,  with  their  corps,  they  returned  to  Waxaw  settle- 
ment, and  found  themselves  suddenly  engaged  with  a  su- 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  •  11 

perior  British  force,  who  surprised  a  gallant  band  of  lorty 
patriots,  to  which  they  belonged,  routed  it  and  took  ele- 
ven prisoners.     Andrew  Jackson  and  his  brother  escaped 
from  the  field,  after  fighting  bravely  ;    but,  having  enter- 
ed a  house,  next  day,  in  order  to  procure  food,  they  fell 
into  the  hands  of  a  corps  of  British  dragoons,  and  a  party 
of  tories,  that  were  marauding  together.     Andrew,  when 
under  guard,  was  ordered  by  a  British  officer,  in  a  haugh- 
ty manner,  to  clean  his  boots  ;  the  youth  peremptorily 
refused  to  do  so,  claiming,  with  firmness,  the  treatment 
due  to  a  prisoner  of  war.       The  officer  aimed  a  blow  at 
his  head  witli  a  sabre,  which  would  have  proved  fatal, 
had  he  not  parried  it  with  his  left  hand,  on  which  he  re- 
ceived a  severe  wound.     His  brother,  at  the  same  time, 
and  for  a  similar  offence,  received  a  gash  on  the  head, 
which  afterwards  occasioned  his  death.       Thus,  did  his 
only  relatives,  two  of  this  estimable  family,  perish  in  the 
spring  of  life,  martyrs  to  their  patriotic  and  courageous 
spirit.       Andrew  and  his  companion  were  consigned  to 
jail,  in  separate  apartments,  and  treated  with  the  utmost 
harshness  ;  until,  through  the  exertions  of  their  fond  mo- 
ther, they  were  exchanged,  a  few  days  after  the  battle. 
This  worthy  woman,  worn  down  by  grief,  and  the  fa- 
tigues she  had  undergone  in  seeking  clothes  and  other 
comforts   for  all  the  prisoners  who  had  been   taken  from 
her  neighbourhood,  expired  in  the  course  of  the  following 
month,  in  the  vicinity  of  Charleston.      At  the  period  of 
this  melancholy   loss,    Andrew   was   languishing   under 
sickness,  the  consequence  of  his  sufferings  in  prison,  and 
his  exposure  to  inclement  weather  on  his  return  home. 
The  small  pox  supervened,  and  nearly  terminated  his  sor- 
rows and  his  life.     But  a  constitution  originally  good,  and 
a  vigorous  tone  of  mind,  enabled  him  to  survive  this  com- 


12  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

plication  of  ills.  He  recovered,  and  entered  upon  the 
enjoyment  of  his  patrimony,  which,  though  it  might  have 
been  sufficient  for  the  completion  of  his  education,  with 
judicious  management,  soon  dwindled  to  very  little  in  hands 
unused  to  such  a  cliarge.  He  returned  to  his  classical 
studies,  as  a  means  of  future  subsistence,  with  increased 
industry  ;  and,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  in  the  winter  of 
1784,  repaired  to  Salisbury,  in  North  Carolina,  to  a  law- 
yer's office,  in  which  he  prepared  himself  for  the  bar. 
In  the  winter  of  1786,  he  obtained  a  licence  to  practice, 
but  finding  this  theatre  unfavourable  for  advancement,  he 
emigrated  to  Nashville  in  1788,  and  there  fixed  his  resi- 
dence. Success  attended  his  industry  and  talents ;  he  ac- 
quired a  lucrative  business  in  the  courts,  and  ere  long 
was  appointed  attorney-general  for  the  district ;  in  which 
capacity  he  continued  to  act  for  several  years. 

Tennessee  being  at  that  time  exposed,  even  in  the  heart 
of  the  settlements,  to  the  incursions  of  the  Indians,  he  be- 
came like  all  around  him,  a  soldier,  and  one  whose  activi- 
ty and  resolution  soon  made  him  as  conspicuous  as  he  was 
useful.  The  progress  which  he  made  in  public  estima- 
tion, by  his  abilities  and  services,  is  marked  b}^  his  elec- 
tion, in  1796,  to  the  Convention  assembled  to  frame  a 
constitution  for  the  state.  In  this  body  he  acquired  addi- 
tional distinction,  which  placed  him,  the  same  year,  in 
Congress,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  the  fol- 
lowing year,  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  He 
acted  invariably  with  the  Republican  party  in  the  Nation- 
al Legislature,  but  grew  tired  of  an  unavailing  struggle 
in  a  small  minority,  and  of  a  scene  of  discussion  and  in- 
trigue for  which  he  did  not  deem  himself  as  well  fitted 
as  the  successor,  for  whose  sake,  no  less  than  for  his  own 
gratification,  he  resigned  his  post  in    1799.     We  have 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  13 

heard  some  gentlemen  who  were  members  of  Congress 
during  the  lime  he  remained  in  it,  remark  that  he  was 
generally  esteemed  for  the  soundness  of  his  understand- 
ing, and  the  moderation  ot  his  demeanour.  Though  sted- 
fast  and  earnest  as  a  party  politician,  he  manifested  neither 
violence  nor  illiberality.  While  a  senator,  he  was  cho- 
sen by  the  field  officers  of  the  Tennessee  militia,  without 
consultation  with  him,  major-general  of  their  division,  and 
so  remained  until  1814,  when  he  took  the  same  rank  in 
the  service  of  the  United  States.  On  his  resignation  as 
senator,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  judges  of  the  supreme 
court  of  Tennessee.  He  accepted  this  appointment  with 
reluctance,  and  withdrew  from  the  bench  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, with  the  determination  to  spend  the  rest  of  his  life 
in  tranquility  and  seclusion,  on  a  beautiful  farm  belonging 
to  him,  and  lying  on  the  Cumberland  river  about  ten 
miles  from  Nashville.  In  this  retreat  he  passed  several 
years,  happy  in  the  indulgence  of  his  fondness  for  rural 
occupations,  and  in  the  society  of  an  affectionate  wife  and 
a  number  of  honest  friends.  His  quiet  felicity  was,  how- 
ever, broken  up  by  the  occurrence  of  the  war  with  Great 
Britain.  It  roused  his  martial  and  patriotic  temper  ;  and 
when  the  acts  of  Congress  (of  the  6th  February,  and 
July  1812)  which  authorize  the  President  to  accept  the 
services  of  fifty  thousand  volunteers,  were  promulgated, 
Jackson  published  an  energetic  address  to  the  militia  of 
his  division,  drew  two  thousand  five  hundred  of  them  to 
his  standard,  and  tendered  them  without  delay  to  the  federal 
government.  In  November,  he  received  orders  to  de- 
scend the  Mississippi,  for  the  defence  of  the  lower  coun- 
try, which  was  then  thought  to  be  in  danger.  In  Janua- 
ry, in  a  very  inclement  season,  he  conducted  his  troops 
as  far  as  Natchez,  where  he  was  instructed  to  remain  un- 


14  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

til  otherwise  directed.  Here  he  employed  himself  indcfa- 
tigably,  in  training  and  preparing  them  for  service.  But, 
the  danger  which  was  meant  to  be  repelled,  having  ceased 
to  exist,  in  the  opinion  of  the  secretary  of  war,  he  re- 
ceived instructions,  from  the  latter,  to  dismiss,  at  once, 
from  service,  those  under  his  command.  The  number  of 
sick  in  his  camp  was  great,  and  they  were  destitute  of  the 
means  of  defraying  the  expenses  of  their  return  home  : 
The  rest  of  his  troops,  from  the  same  dearth  of  resources, 
must  have  enlisted  in  the  regular  army,  under  General 
Wilkinson.  Jackson  felt  himself  responsible  for  the  resto- 
ration of  them  to  their  families  and  friends,  and,  there- 
fore, resolved  to  disobey  the  orders  of  the  department  of 
war,  whose  head  could  not  be  acquainted  with  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case.  He  retained  as  much  of  the  pub- 
lic property  in  his  possession,  as  was  necessary  to  his 
purpose  of  marching  them  back.  Wilkinson  remonstra- 
ted and  admonished  in  vain.  Jackson  replied  that  he 
would  bear  all  the  responsibility — he  refused  to  allow 
Wilkinson's  officers,  when  commissioned,  to  recruit  from 
his  army  ;  seized  upon  thew^aggons  required  for  the  tran- 
sportation of  his  sick,  and  set  out  with  the  whole  of  his 
force.  He  gave  up  his  own  horses  to  the  infirm,  and  shared 
in  all  the  hardships  of  the  soldiers  in  a  long  and  arduous 
march.  It  was  at  a  time  of  the  year  w^Iien  the  roads  and 
the  swamps,  to  be  trodden,  were  in  the  worst  condition. 
His  example  silenced  all  complaint,  and  endeared  him  the 
more  to  his  companions.  On  his  arrival  at  Nashville  he 
communicated  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  what 
he  had  done,  and  the  reasons  by  which  he  had  been  guid- 
ed. His  conduct  was  approved  of  at  Washington,  and 
the  expenses,  whicli  he  had  incurred,  directed  to  be  ])aid. 
\W  h;ivc  mentioned  liiis  allair  pai'ticulnrlvj  because  it  is 


GENERAL   JACKSON.  15 

the  most  remarkable  among  the  first  instances  in  his  his- 
tory, of  that  lofty  independence  in  judgment  and  action, 
and  that  disdain  of  consequences  in  the  discharge  of  a  pa- 
ramount duty,  which  have  since  signalized  his  career  both 
military  and  civil. 

We  have  now  reached  what  may  be  called  the  second 
principal  era  of  his  life. 

The  British  and  the  celebrated  Tecumseh  had  stirred  up 
the  Creek  nation  of  Indians,  parties  of  whom  made  irruj)- 
tions  into  the  state  of  Tennessee,  committing  the  most 
barbarous  outrages  upon  defenceless  and  insulated  families. 
Having  obtained  a  supply  of  ammunition  from  the  Span- 
iards, at  Pensacola,  a  band  of  six  or  seven  hundred  war- 
riors assaulted  Fort  Miiiims,  situated  in  the  Tensaw  set- 
tlement, in  the  Mississippi  Territory,  succeeded  in  car- 
rying it,  and  butchered  nearly  all  its  inmates  ;  three  hun- 
dred persons,  including  women  and  children.  Only  se- 
venteen of  the  whole  number  escaped  to  spread  intelli- 
gence of  the  dreadful  catastrophe.  The  news  produced 
the  strongest  sensation  in  Tennessee  ;  and  all  eyes  were, 
at  once,  turned  to  Jackson  as  the  leader  of  the  force  which 
must  be  sent  forth  to  overtake  and  punish  the  miscreants. 
He  was,  at  this  time,  confined  to  his  chamber  with  a  frac- 
tured arm  and  a  wound  in  the  breast,  injuries  received  in 
a  private  rencontre.  It  was  resolved  by  the  legislature  to 
call  into  service  thirty-five  hundred  of  the  militia,  to  be 
marched  into  the  heart  of  the  Creek  nation,  conformably 
to  the  advice  of  Jackson,  who,  notwithstanding  the  bodily 
ills  under  which  he  laboured,  readily  undertook  the  chief 
command  in  the  expedition.  He  issued  an  eloquent  and 
nervous  address  to  the  troops,  on  the  day  of  the  rendez- 
vous, in  wliich  he  told  them,  among  other  things— ^'We 
must  and    will  be  victorious — we  must  conquer  as  men 


16  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

wlio  owe  nothing  to  chance  ;  and,  who,  in  the  midst  of 
victory,  can  still  be  mindful  of  what  is  due  to  humanity." 
On  the  7th  October,  1813,  he  reache<l  the  encampment, 
although  his  health  was  far  from  beina;  restored.  It  would 
require  too  much  space  to  follow  him  in  all  the  move- 
ments of  a  campaign,  in  which  he  appears  as  a  most  skil- 
ful commander,  vigilant  disciplinarian,  and  dauntless  sol- 
dier. He  had  to  contend  not  only  with  a  formidable  ene- 
my, but  with  raw  and  mutinous  followers  and  the  severest 
personal  hardships.  The  most  fatiguing  and  prolonged 
marches  over  mountains  and  through  morasses  ;  the  fre- 
quent and  almost  total  want  of  food  of  any  kind  ;  the  fail- 
ure of  contractors  ;  the  inefficiency  or  defection  of  high- 
er officers,  and  a  protracted  and  perilous  absence  from 
home,  extenuate  the  occasional  despondency  and  disobe- 
dience of  the  privates  of  his  division.  Under  the  worst 
circumstances,  he  displayed  the  utmost  resolution  and  for- 
titude, and  by  his  inflexible  spirit  and  tone  of  perseve- 
rance, he  brought  the  enterprise  to  the  most  satisfactory 
issue. 

The  first  battle  which  he  fought,  in  person,  on  this  oc- 
casion, was  that  of  Talladega,  a  fort  of  friendly  Chero- 
kee Indians,  distant  about  thirty  miles  below  Fort  Stro- 
ther,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river  Coosa.  The  Creeks 
were  posted  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  Fort  Talladega, 
in  considerable  force.  At  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
Jackson's  columns  wxre  displayed  in  order  of  battle.  At 
about  eight,  his  advance  having  arrived  within  eighty 
yards  of  the  enemy,  received  a  heavy  fire,  which  they  in- 
stantly returned,  and  the  engagement  soon  became  gene- 
ral. In  fifteen  minutes  the  Creeks  were  seen  flying  in 
every  direction,  and  were  pursued  until  the)'  reached  the 
mountains,  at  the  distance  of  three  miles.     Their  numbers 


GENERAL    JACKSO:X.  17 

amounted  to  one  thousand  and  eighty,  of  whom  two  hun- 
dred and  ninety-nine  were  left  dead  on  the  ground.  Their 
whole  loss,  in  the  engagement  and  retreat,  as  since  stated 
by  themselves,  was  not  less  than  six  hundred.  On  the 
side  of  the  Americans,  fifteen  were  killed  and  eighty 
wounded  ;  and  several  of  the  latter  soon  died.  The  fort 
w^as  full  of  friendly  Indians,  w^ho  had  been  besieged  for 
several  days,  and  would  have  been  all  massacred,  but  for 
the  arrival  and  victory  of  General  Jackson.  Want  of  pro- 
visions compelled  him  to  hasten  back,  after  collecting  his 
dead  and  wounded,  to  Fort  Strother.  He  particularly  la- 
mented the  necessity  of  this  step,  as  it  gave  the  enemy 
time  to  recover  from  their  consternation  and  recruit  their 
strength. 

At  Fort  Strother,  no  stores  were  found  by  the  famish- 
ed army  on  their  return,  owing  to  the  delinquency  of  the 
contractors.  Jackson  distributed  all  his  own  supplies  to 
the  suffering  soldiers — tripes  constituted  his  sole  food  for 
several  days.  Scarcity  engendered  discontent  and  revolt 
in  the  camp.  The  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  militia  de- 
termined to  abandon  the  service.  On  the  morning  when 
they  were  to  carry  their  intention  into  effect.  General  Jack- 
son drew  up  the  volunteer  companies  in  front  of  them, 
with  a  mandate  to  prevent  their  progress — they  had  not 
courage  to  advance.  They  returned  to  their  quarters, 
but,  on  the  following  day,  the  very  volunteers  who  had 
been  so  employed,  mutinied  in  their  turn  and  designed  to 
move  off  in  a  body.  Their  surprise  was  not  slight,  when, 
on  attempting  this,  they  found  the  same  men  whom  they 
had  intercepted  the  day  before,  occupying  the  very  posi- 
tion which  they  had  done,  for  a  similar  purpose.  The 
militia  were  glad  to  retaliate,  and  the  result  was  the  same. 
Jackson  was  obliged  however,  to  withdraw  with  the  troops 

3 


18  BIOGRAPHY  OF 

from  Fort  Strother,  towards  Fort  Deposit,  upon  the  con- 
dition, tliat  if  they  met  supplies,  which  were  expected, 
they  would  return  and  prosecute  the  campaign.  They 
had  not  proceeded  more  than  ten  or  twelve  miles  before 
they  met  one  hundred  and  fifty  beeves  ;  but  their  faces 
being  once  turned  homewards,  they  resisted  his  order  to 
march  back  to  the  encampment.  The  scene  which  ensued 
is  characteristic  as  to  his  firmness  and  decision.  A  whole 
brigade  had  put  itself  in  an  attitude  for  moving  off  forci- 
bly. Jackson  was  still  without  the  use  of  his  left  arm  ; 
seizing  a  musket,  and  resting  it  with  his  right  on  the  neck 
of  his  horse,  he  threw  himself  in  front  of  the  column  and 
threatened  to  shoot  the  first  man  who  should  attempt  to 
advance.  Major  Reid,  his  aid-de-camp,  and  General  Cof- 
fee placed  themselves  by  his  side.  For  several  minutes 
the  column  preserved  a  menacing  attitude,  yet  hesitated 
to  proceed.  In  the  mean  time,  those  who  remained  faith- 
ful to  their  duty,  amounting  to  about  two  companies, 
were  collected,  and  formed  at  a  short  distance  in  advance 
of  the  troops,  with  positive  directions  to  imitate  the  exam- 
ple of  the  general,  if  the  mutineers  persisted.  These, 
when  no  individual  appeared  bold  enough  to  press  on- 
w\ard,  at  length  wavered,  and  then  soon  turned  quietly 
round  and  agreed  to  submit.  It  was  a  critical  instant ; 
but  for  the  firmness  of  Jackson,  the  campaign  would  have 
been  broken  up,  and  there  was  no  likelihood  of  its  being 
resumed. 

A  third  considerable  mutiny  which  happened  not  long 
after,  was  suppressed  by  personal  efforts  of  the  same  kind. 
The  appeals  which  he  made  to  his  troops  at  these  periods, 
are  elevated  and  glowing  compositions.  The  governor 
of  Tennessee  transmitted  to  him  advice  to  desist  from  the 
further  prosecution  of  the  campaign,  on  account  of  his 


GENIOKAL    JACKSOIM.  19 

manifold  einhorrassnicnts  and  inadequate  means.  Jackson 
replied  to  him,  repellinLi;  liis  su«2;gestion,  and  urging  him 
to  lend  assistance  to  sustain  the  honour  of  Tennessee,  and 
protect  the  frontiers  from  thousands  of  exasperated  savages. 
This  wise  and  urgent  remonstrance  finally  procured  for 
him  reinforcements  ;  or  ratlier,  suhstitutcs  for  the  compa- 
nies, which  he  deemed  it  advisahle  to  dismiss  in  conse- 
quence of  their  disaffection. 

Once  more,  in  the  middle  of  January,  1814,  he  was  on 
his  march,  bending  his  course  to  a  part  of  the  Tallapoosa 
river,  near  the  mouth  of  a  creek  called  Emuckfaw.  On 
the  21st,  he  discovered  that  he  was  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  enemy.  About  midnight  his  spies  came  in  and  re- 
reported  that  they  had  discovered  a  large  encampment  of 
Indians,  at  about  three  miles  distance,  who,  from  their 
whooping  and  dancing,  were,  no  doubt,  apprised  of  his 
arrival  upon  the  eminences  of  Emuckfaw.  At  the  dawn  of 
day  the  alarm  guns  of  the  sentinels,  and  the  shrieks  and 
savage  yells  of  the  enemy  announced  an  assault.  The 
action  raged  for  an  half  hour,  when  the  Indians  were  put 
to  the  rout.  General  Coffee,  with  four  hundred  men,  was 
detached  to  destroy  the  enemy's  encampment.  He  found 
it  too  strong  to  be  assailed  with  that  force,  and  had  scarce- 
ly returned,  when  the  savages  renewed  their  attack  w^ith 
increased  numbers  and  the  greatest  impetuosity.  The 
whole  day  was  spent  in  severe  fighting,  attended  by  the 
destruction  of  a  multitude  of  the  assailants.  They  were 
quiet  during  the  night  ;  but,  Jackson  perceiving  that  his 
provisions  were  growing  scarce  and  that  his  wounded  re- 
quired immediate  care,  determined  on  the  next  day  to  re- 
trace his  steps.  The  retreat  began  at  ten  o'clock,  and 
was  continued,  without  interruption,  until  night,  when 
the  army  was  encamped  a  quarter  of  a  mile  on  the  south 


20  BIOfiRAPHY    OF 

side  of  Enotichopco  creek,  in  the  direction  of  the  ford  by 
wliich  they  had  uh-cady  passed.  The  next  day,  after  the 
front  guard  and  part  of  the  cokimns  had  crossed,  the  ene- 
my, who  had  been  in  pursuit,  rushed  from  coverts  upon 
the  rear  and  threw  the  guard  into  confusion.  Jackson 
was  just  passing  the  stream  when  the  firing  and  yelling 
commenced.  He  repaired  instantaneously  to  the  place  of 
action  ;  formed  the  columns  anew,  and  put  them  in  mo- 
tion, in  the  midst  of  showers  of  balls.  The  savages,  being 
warmly  pressed  in  turn,  broke  and  fled  ;  and,  in  a  chase 
of  two  miles,  were  entirely  dispersed.  At  one  moment, 
the  distruction  of  the  whole  Tennessee  band  appeared  al- 
most inevitable. 

The  total  loss  on  the  American  side  in  the  several  en- 
gagements which  we  have  just  mentioned,  was  only  twen- 
ty killed  and  seventy-five  wounded.  The  lifeless  bodies 
of  one  hundred  and  ninety-nine  of  the  enemy's  warriors 
were  found :  the  number  of  their  wounded  could  not  be 
conjectured.  On  the  night  of  the  26th,  Jackson  encamp- 
ed within  three  miles  of  Fort  Strother ;  having  accom- 
plished the  several  objects  of  this  perilous  expedition ; 
which  were,  a  diversion  in  favour  of  General  Floyd,  who 
was  advancing  with  the  army  from  Georgia ;  the  preven- 
tion of  a  meditated  attack  upon  Fort  Armstrong  by  the 
savage  bands,  a  considerable  part  of  whom  he  either  de- 
stroyed or  dispersed  ;  and  the  counteraction  of  discontent 
in  his  ranks,  for  which  activity  and  battle  were  the  best 
remedies. 

In  February,  he  discharged  the  volunteers  and  his  ar- 
tillery company,  receiving  in  their  stead  fresh  militia  draf- 
ted for  the  occasion.  One  private  of  these  he  caused  to 
be  executed  for  mutiny,  before  the  end  of  the  month — an 
example  of  severity  which  had  the  happiest  effect  in  re- 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  21 

gard  to  general  subordination.  He  suffered  again,  in  an 
extreme  degree,  from  the  scarcity  of  provisions ;  but  ha- 
ving at  last,  by  constant  exertions,  removed  this  obstacle 
to  his  plan  of  penetrating  further  into  the  enemy's  coun- 
try, he  set  out  on  the  16th  of  March  from  Fort  Strother, 
and  halted  on  the  21st  at  the  mouth  of  Cedar  Creek. 
Here,  learning  that  the  savages  were  still  embodied,  and 
very  strongly  posted  not  far  from  New  Youcka  on  the 
Tallapoosa,  he  resolved  to  march  upon  them,  as  soon  as 
the  proper  arrangements  could  be  made  for  preserving  his 
rear  in  safety. 

On  the  24th  he  proceeded  with  his  whole  force,  which 
was  less  than  three  thousand  effective  men,  and  in  the 
morning  of  the  27th,  after  a  march  of  fifty  three  miles, 
reached  the  village  of  Tohopeka.  The  enemy  having 
gained  intelligence  of  his  approach,  collected  in  consider- 
able numbers  with  a  view  to  give  him  battle.  Their  po- 
sition was  admirably  calculated  for  defence.  Surrounded 
almost  entirely  by  the  river,  it  was  accessible  only  by  a 
narrow  neck  of  land,  of  350  yards  in  Vv^idth,  which  they 
had  taken  much  pains  to  secure  and  defend  by  placing 
large  timbers  and  trunks  of  trees  horizontally  on  each 
other,  leaving  but  a  single  place  of  entrance.  From  a  dou- 
ble row  of  port  holes  formed  in  it,  they  were  enabled  to 
direct  their  fire  with  a  sure  aim,  while  they  appeared  to 
be  secure  behind. 

We  need  not  follow  out  the  details  of  this  brilliant  af- 
fair, so  wxll  known  by  the  name  of  the  battle  of  the  To- 
hopeka or  Horse  Shoe.  The  contest  was  obstinate  and 
bloody.  Jackson's  troops  finally  scaled  the  ramparts  of 
the  savages,  who,  disdaining  to  surrender,  leaped  down 
the  banks  of  the  river,  when  they  could  no  longer  defend 
themselves  from  behind  the  timber  and  brush.     The  car- 


22  BIOGRAPHY  OF 

nage  continued  until  night  separated  the  coin])atmits.  The 
general  result  was,  the  destruction  of  the  bravest  of  the 
Indian  warriors  and  the  ruin  of  their  cause.  Five  hun- 
dred and  fifty-seven  of  them  were  left  dead  on  the  penin- 
sula. A  multitude  perished  in  the  river.  Three  hundred 
women  and  children  were  taken  prisoners,  and  treated 
with  humanity.  The  loss  of  the  victors,  including  the 
friendly  Indians,  was  fifty-five  killed  and  one  hundred 
and  forty-six  wounded  :  among  the  former  were  some 
gallant  officers. 

Having  thus  struck  a  decisive  blow,  Jackson  returned 
with  his  wounded,  to  Fort  Williams.  On  the  2d  of  April, 
he  published  an  address  to  his  armj^,  in  which  he  compli- 
mented their  courage  and  conduct,  but  told  them,  that 
more  remained  to  be  done.  Understanding  that  the  ene- 
my was  yet  strong  at  Horthlewalee,  a  town  situated  not 
far  from  the  Hickory  ground,  or  that  part  of  the  Creek 
country  lying  in  the  forks  near  the  junction  of  the  Coosa 
and  Tallapoosa,  he  was  anxious  to  resume  operation  as 
soon  as  possible,  and  unite  with  the  North  Carolina  and 
Georgia  troops,  who  were  announced  to  be  at  no  great 
distance,  somewhere  south  of  the  Tallapoosa.  On  the  9th 
of  April,  he  was  on  his  march,  with  all  his  disposable  force 
but  did  not  reach  Horthlewalee  until  the  13th,  owing  to 
heavy  rains  which  had  swollen  the  streams  that  were  to 
be  crossed.  The  delay  afforded  an  opportunity  to  the 
savages  to  escape  by  flight  from  their  pursuer,  who  soon 
afterwards  effected  his  junction  with  the  Georgia  detach- 
ment. At  the  Hickory  ground,  the  principal  chiefs  of 
the  hostile  tribes  vsued  for  peace — tl\ose  who  rejected  this 
measure,  had  sought  refuge  along  the  coast  and  in  Pensa- 
cola.  Jackson  prescribed  to  those  who  were  disposed  to 
renew  their  friendlv  lelations  with  the  United  Ststes,  that 


GENERAL  JACKSON.  23 

they  sliould  retire  and  occupy  the  country  about  Fort 
Williams  and  to  the  east  of  the  Coosa  ;  a  condition  which 
was  readily  accepted,  and  which  put  it  out  of  their  power 
to  renew  hostilities  with  advantage  at  any  time.  Strong 
parties  of  militia  were  sent  out  to  range  the  country  and 
receive  the  submission  of  the  natives.  Much  of  the  pro- 
perty plundered  by  them  at  Fort  Mimms  and  along  the 
frontiers  was  brought  in  and  delivered  up.  All  resistance 
being  at  an  end,  and  their  being  no  longer  any  necessity 
for  maintaining  an  army  in  the  field,  orders  wxre  issued 
on  the  21st  of  April,  for  the  Tennessee  troops  to  be  march- 
ed home  and  discharged. 

Such  is  the  mere  outline  of  the  famous  Creek  war,  in 
which  Jackson,  by  the  celerity  of  his  movements,  the  in- 
flexibility of  his  will,  and  the  confidence  with  which  his 
genius  and  demeanor  inspired  his  associates,  accomplish- 
ed as  much  v/ithin  a  few  months  as  could  be  thought  pos- 
sible, consistently  with  the  nature  and  number  of  his 
army. 

The  complete  and  final  discomfiture  of  so  formidable  a 
foe  as  this  confederacy  of  Indians,  drew  the  attention  of  the 
general  government  to  the  Tennessee  commander,  and 
produced  a  speedy  manifestation  of  the  respect  entertained 
for  his  services  and  character,  in  his  appointment  as  brig- 
adier and  brevet  IMajor-general  in  the  regular  army.  A 
commission  of  Major-general  was  forwarded  to  him  in 
Ma}^,  1814.  The  government  deemed  it  advisable  to  en- 
ter into  a  treaty  with  the  vanquished  Indians,  for  the  pur- 
pose chiefly,  of  restricting  their  limits  so  as  to  cut  ofi* 
their  communication  w^ith  the  British  and  Spanish  agents. 
General  Jackson  was  deputed  with  colonel  Hawkins  as 
commissioner  to  negotiate  with  the  Creeks ;  and  on  the 
10th  of  July,  he  reached  Alabama  on  this  errand,  and  by 


34  BIOGRAPHY  OP 

the  10th  of  August,  accomplished  an  agreement,  under 
which  the  Indians  hound  themselves  to  hold  no  commu- 
nication with  the  British  or  Spanish  garrisons,  or  foreign 
emissaries,  and  conceded  to  the  United  States,  the  right 
of  erecting  military  posts  in  their  country.  The  contrac- 
tion and  definition  of  their  territorial  limits  were  attended 
with  considerable  difficulty,  but  Jackson  peremptorily  and 
successfully  insisted  upon  what  he  deemed  necessary  for 
the  future  sccurit}^  and  permanent  benefit  of  the  United 
States. 

During  this  transaction,  his  mind  was  struck  with  the 
importance  of  depriving  the  fugitive  and  refractory  sava- 
ges, of  the  aid  and  incitement  which  were  administered 
to  them  in  East  Florida,  and  he  at  once  urged  on  the 
President  the  propriety  of  attacking  and  dismantling 
Pensacola.  He  studied  particularly,  to  obtain  informa- 
tion of  the  designs  which  the  British  might  have  formed 
against  the  southern  parts  of  the  union.  He  already  an- 
ticipated the  attack  on  Neiv  Orleans.  He  addressed, 
of  his  own  accord,  complaints  to  the  Governor  of  Pensa- 
cola, and  summoned  him  to  deliver  up  the  chiefs  of  the 
hostile  Indians,  who  were  harboured  in  the  fortress.  The 
Governor  refused  and  recriminated.  The  American  offi- 
cer whom  Jackson  despatched  to  Pensacola  with  his  ex- 
postulations, reported,  on  his  return,  that  he  saw  there 
nearly  two  hundred  British  officers  and  soldiers,  and  about 
five  hundred  Indians  under  the  training  of  those  officers, 
armed  with  new  muskets,  and  dressed  in  the  English 
uniform.  Jackson  repeated  his  instances  with  the  govern- 
ment, to  be  allowed  ^Ho  plant  the  American  Eagle"  on 
the  Spanish  walls.  He  addressed  the  governors  of  Ten- 
nessee, Louisiana  and  the  Mississippi  territory,  soliciting 
them  to  be  vigilant  and  energetic,  ^'^for  dark  and  heavy 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  25 

clouds  hovered  over  the  seventh  military  district"  He 
sent  his  adjutant-general,  colonel  Butler,  1o  Tennessee, 
to  raise  volunteers,  and  himself  repaired  to  Mobile  to  put 
that  region  in  a  state  of  defence. 

Towards  the  end  of  August,  the  noted  colonel  Nichols, 
with  a  small  squadron  of  British  ships,  arrived  at  Pensa- 
cola,  and  at  the  expiration  of  a  fortnight  made  an  attack 
upon  Fort  Bowyer,  situated  at  the  extremity  of  a  narrow 
neck  of  land,  about  eighteen  miles  below  the  head  of  Mo- 
bile Bay  and  commanding  its  entrance.  Nichols  was 
repulsed  with  the  loss  of  his  best  ship,  and  two  hundred 
and  thirty  men  killed  and  wounded.  This  position  had 
been  wholly  neglected  before  Jackson's  arrival,  who  per- 
ceived at  once  its  great  importance,  and  lost  no  time  in 
strengthening  it  to  the  utmost.  The  British  assailants  re- 
tired to  Pensacola,  to  refit  and  prepare  to  make  a  descent 
on  some  less  guarded  point. 

Jackson  became  more  and  more  persuaded,  that  unless 
Pensacola  should  be  reduced,  it  would  be  in  vain  to  think 
of  defending  his  district.  He  was  confirmed  in  the  plan 
which  he  had  for  some  time  revolved,  of  advancino-  against 
the  Spanish  town  and  throwing  a  force  into  the  Barrancas, 
071  his  oimi  responsibility.  Tn  the  last  week  of  October, 
general  Coffee  arrived  near  Fort  Stephens,  with  two  thou- 
sand able  bodied  and  well  armed  men  from  Tennessee. 
Jackson  hastened  to  his  camp,  took  up  the  line  of  march 
with  the  American  army,  consisting  of  Coffee's  brigade, 
the  regulars  and  some  Indians ;  in  all  about  three  thou- 
sand, and  reached  Pensacola  on  the  6th  of  November. 
The  forts  were  garrisoned  by  the  British  and  Spaniards, 
and  prepared  for  resistance ;  batteries  were  formed  in  the 
principal  streets;  and  the  British  vessels  were  moored 
within  tliP  l)ay,  and  so  disposed  ns  to  command  the  prin- 


2G  BIOGRAPHY    OP 

cipal  entrance  to  the  town.  Jackson  required  that  the 
different  forts,  Barrancas,  St.  Rose  and  St  Michael,  should 
be  forthwith  surrendered,  to  be  garrisoned  and  held  by 
the  United  States,  until  Spain  should  furnish  a  force  suf- 
ficient to  protect  her  neutrality  from  the  British.  On  the 
refusal  of  the  governor  to  accede  to  these  terms,  Jackson 
pushed  his  troops  at  once  into  the  heart  of  the  town, 
having  adroitly  taken  a  different  direction  from  that  in 
which  he  was  expected  to  appear.  The  Spanish  batte- 
ries in  the  streets  were  charged  and  mastered  ;  the  Span- 
iards driven  from  their  positions  behind  the  houses  and 
fences  from  which  they  were  firing  vollies  of  musketry ; 
and,  after  some  carnage,  the  governor  and  his  advisers  re- 
duced to  submission.  Fort  Barrancas  was  blown  up  by 
the  British. 

Two  days  after  entering  the  town,  Jackson  abandoned 
it,  and  returned  to  Fort  Montgomery,  being  satisfied 
with  having  driven  away  the  British,  forced  the  hostile 
Creeks  to  fly  to  the  forests,  and  produced  a  salutary  im- 
pression on  the  minds  of  the  Spaniards.  In  this  expedi- 
tion, none  of  the  Americans  were  killed,  and  about  fifteen 
or  twenty  of  them  only  wxre  wounded.  Soon  after  they 
had  retired,  the  Spaniards  began  to  rebuild  Forts  Barran- 
cas and  Rose  ;  and  the  British  officers,  anxious  to  regain 
that  confidence  which  they  had  fortfeited  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  them,  offered  to  assist  in  their  re-construction. 
The  governor  declined  the  offer,  and  answered  further, 
that  when  assistance  was  in  fact  needed,  he  would  apply 
to  his  friend  General  Jackson. 

Afterthe  general  had  sent  off  a  detatchment  of  one  thou- 
sand men  in  pursuit  of  the  Indian  warriors  who  had  as- 
sembled on  the  Appalachicola,  with  orders  to  destroy  the 
depots  of  supplies,  and  Iheii^  villages  on  the  rout,  and  when 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  27 

he  had  reason  to  believe  that  Mobile  and  the  inhabitants 
on  its  borders,  were  rendered  comparatively  secure  by 
his  operations  and  arrangements,  his  chief  desire  was  to 
depart  for  New  Orleans,  where  he  had  foreseen  the  vital 
danger  to  be,  and  where  he  knew  his  presence  to  be  most 
material.  As  soon  as  General  Winchester,  who  had  been 
ordered  to  join  him,  reached  the  Alabama,  he  left  Mobile. 
On  the  first  of  December,  he  was  in  New  Orleans,  and 
there  established  his  head-quarters.  General  Coffee  and 
Colonel  Hinds  were  ordered  to  march  with  tlieir  com- 
mands, and  take  a  position  as  convenient  to  New  Orleans 
as  should  be  compatible  with  the  object  of  procuring  fo- 
rage for  the  horses  of  the  dragoons. 

Louisiana  was  ill  supplied  with  arms :  Its  motley  popu- 
lation, French  and  Spaniards,  were  not  3'et  sufficiently 
fond  of  the  American  government  to  fight  very  desperate- 
ly in  its  defence.  New  Orleans  was  unprepared  to  with- 
stand an  enemy,  and  contained  but  too  many  traitors  or 
malcontents.  Jackson  was  nearly  disabled  in  body,  Ijy 
sickness  and  fatigue — he  expected  a  large  and  perfectly 
appointed  British  force — his  only  means  of  resistance  were 
the  few  regulars  about  him,  the  Tennessee  volunteers,  and 
such  troops  as  the  state  of  Louisiana  might  itself  raise. 
He  maintained,  however,  a  confident  aspect,  and  a  confi- 
dent tone.  He  summoned,  at  once,  the  governor  and  the 
citizens  to  exert  themselves — he  set  them  the  example  of 
unremitted  activity  and  stern  resolution.  Volunteer  com- 
panies were  raised  ;  batteries  were  repaired  or  construct- 
ed, and  gun-boats  stationed  on  the  most  eligible  points 
on  the  river.  He  roused  the  Legislature,  who  before  had 
done  little  or  nothing,  to  lend  him  their  concurrence. 
His  language  to  them  was,  ^^with  energy  and  expedition, 
all  is  safe — delay  further,  and  all  is  lost.  • '  Commodore 


28  BIOGKArilY    OF 

Palterson,  \vlio  cojiiiiiniKUMl  the  naval  forces,  executed 
every  order  with  ahicrity  and  vigour.  Certain  informa- 
tion v^^as  soon  received  that  an  English  fleet  was  off  Cat 
and  Ship  Island,  within  a  short  distance  of  the  American 
lines.  On  the  14th  of  December,  forty -three  British  boats, 
mounting  as  many  cannon,  with  twelve  hundred  chosen 
men,  well  armed,  attacked  the  American  flotilla  of  five 
boats  on  Lake  Borgne,  and  captured  it,  but  not  without  a 
severe  contest  and  heavy  loss  of  men.  This  disaster  afflict- 
ed, but  did  not  dismay  General  Jackson.  On  the  16th 
he  reviewed  the  militia,  and  harangued  them  with  a  con- 
tagious ardour  of  patriotism. 

Resistance  on  the  lakes  being  at  an  end,  the  enemy  was 
expected  to  advance  without  mucli  further  delay.  Expres- 
ses were  sent  off  in  quest  of  General  Coffee,  to  whom  his 
commander  wrote,  <^  You  must  not  sleep  until  you  arrive 
within  striking  distance.  Innumerable  defiles  present 
themselves  where  your  riflemen  will  be  all  important." 
On  the  night  of  the  19th  December,  Coffee  encamped, 
with  eight  hundred  men,  within  fifteen  miles  of  New 
Orleans  ;  having  marched  eighty  miles  the  last  day.  In 
four  days.  Colonel  Hinds,  with  the  Mississippi  dragoons, 
was  at  his  post ;  having  efiected  a  march  of  two  hundred 
and  thirty  miles  in  that  period. 

Jackson  was  not  long  in  discovering  the  truth  of  what 
had  been  communicated  to  him  by  the  governor  of  Louis- 
iana, that  "the  country  was  filled  with  British  spies  and 
stij)endiaries."  He  suggested  to  the  Legislature  the  pro- 
priety and  necessity  of  suspending  the  privilege  of  habeas 
corpus,  "\^'hile  that  assembly  were  deliberating  slowly 
upon  their  power  to  adopt  the  measure,  he  proclaimed 
the  city  of  New  Orleans  and  its  environs  to  be  under 
mar  Hal  law,  and  established  a  most  rigid  military  police. 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  29 

The  crisis  did  not  admit  of  any  other  system,  consistently 
with  the  puhlic  safety ;  and  happy  it  was  that  the  com- 
mander did  not  want  either  sagacity  or  decision.  When 
a  judge  of  the  United  States'  court  determined  to  try  the 
question  of  supremacy  between  the  civil  and  military  pow- 
er, he  arrested  the  judge  and  ordered  him  to  leave  the 
city.  *^  I  must  be  brief,  there  is  treason.''  On  the  21st 
December,  General  Carroll  reached  General  Coffee's  en- 
campment four  miles  above  the  city,  from  Nashville,  with 
two  thousand  Tennessee  yeomanry. 

On  the  22nd,  the  British  were  accidentally  discovered 
emerging  from  the  swamp  and  woods  about  seven  miles 
below  the  town.  In  spite  of  all  the  precautions  taken  to 
guard  the  most  dangerous  avenues,  treachery  found  out 
for  the  enemy  a  narrow  pass.  Bayou  Bienvenu,  through 
which  they  reached  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  On  the 
23d,  at  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  positive  information 
of  their  landing  was  brought  to  Jackson.  He  resolved  to 
meet  them  that  night.  Generals  Coffee  and  Carroll  were 
ordered  to  join  him,  and  arrived,  in  two  hours,  with  their 
forces.  As  he  was  marching  through  the  city,  his  ears 
were  assailed  with  the  screams  of  a  multitude  of  females, 
who  dreaded  the  worst  consequences  from  the  approach  of 
the  enemy.  ^^  Say  to  them,"  exclaimed  he  to  a  gentle- 
man near  him,  "  not  to  be  alarmed  ;  the  enemy  shall  ne- 
ver reach  the  city.''^ 

The  number  of  the  British  was  at  first  three  thousand, 
and  it  was  considerably  increased  during  the  night.  The 
onset  was  made  by  the  Americans  about  dusk.  The  bat- 
tle, complicated  and  fierce,  continued  for  some  time  until 
both  parties  were  thrown  into  confusion,  owing  to  the 
darkness  of  the  night  and  the  nature  of  the  ground.  The 
enemy  yielded  the  field  for  nearly  a  mile.     The  Ameri- 


30  BIOGRAPHY    OP 

can  general,  finding  that  they  were  constantly  receiving 
reinforcements,  resolved  to  draw  off  and  renew  the  attack 
at  dawn  of  day,  after  he  had  called  for  General  Carroll 
and  his  division,  who  had  been  left  behind.  Carroll  soon 
arrived,  but  as  the  numbers  of  the  enemy  were  discovered 
to  be  augmented  to  six  thousand,  Jackson  deemed  it  ex- 
pedient to  forbear  all  offensive  efforts,  until  the  troops 
daily  expected  from  Kentucky  should  reach  their  destina- 
tion. Accordingly,  he  fell  back  and  formed  his  line  be- 
hind a  deep  ditch  that  ran  at  right  angles  from  the  river. 
Tliis  position  was  recommended  by  two  circumstances : 
the  swam.p,  which  skirted  the  river  at  various  distances, 
approached  here  within  four  hundred  yards  of  it,  and 
hence  from  the  narrowness  of  the  pass,  it  was  more  easily 
to  be  defended :  there  was,  too,  a  deep  canal,  and  the  dirt 
being  thrown  on  the  upper  side,  already  constituted  a  to- 
lerable breast  work.  Behind  this  the  American  troops 
were  formed  with  a  determination  to  resist  there  to  the 
last  extremity.  The  portion  of  them  who  were  actually 
engaged  in  the  battle  on  the  23d,  did  not  amount  to  two 
thousand  men.  Their  loss  was  twenty-four  killed,  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  wounded,  and  seventy-four  made 
prisoners:  the  killed,  wounded  and  prisoners  of  the  ene- 
my were  not  less  than  four  hundred.  This  action,  for 
boldness  of  conception,  and  by  the  wisdom  of  the  policy, 
and  the  importance  of  the  result  does  infinite  credit  to  the 
American  leader.  The  British  had  believed  that  once 
landed,  they  should  move  forward  to  the  easiest  of  con- 
quests over  raw  militia  and  untried  regulars.  They  were 
arrested  and  disconcerted,  and  Jackson  improved  the  in- 
terval of  their  hesitation  and  cautious  preparation,  to 
strengthen  his  works  and  organize  the  state  militia  who 
were  arriving  every  day.     The  canal  fronting  the  line 


GENERAL    JACKSON  31 

was  deepened  and  widened  ;  a  strong  wall  of  earth  built, 
the  levee  cut  almost  a  hundred  yards  below,  embrasures 
pierced,  &:c.  Having  made  these  and  various  other  im- 
portant and  judicious  arrangements,  and  possessing,  as  he 
remarked  ^^  a  rampart  of  high  minded  and  brave  men,"  he 
felt  and  expressed  a  degree  of  confidence  which  animated 
even  the  recruits  who  were  strangers  to  him  and  to  every 
kind  of  military  service. 

The  enemy  were  abundantly  active  on  their  side  though 
at  first  ignorant  of  his  situation  and  designs.  They  brought 
up  in  the  directions  of  their  encampment,  their  artillery, 
bombs  and  ammunition.  By  means  of  a  battery  which 
they  erected  in  the  night  of  the  27th,  they  destroyed  the 
American  armed  schooner  Caroline,  lying  t^:ider  the  op- 
posite shore.  Gathering  hardihood  from  this  circumstance, 
which  in  fact,  deprived  Jackson  of  a  material  aid,  they 
left  their  encampment  and  moved  towards  the  American 
lines.  Their  numbers  had  been  increased  and  Sir  Ediuar'd 
Packenham,  their  commander  in  chief,  led  them  in  per- 
son on  the  28th  Dec.  to  storm  the  works.  Their  heavy 
artillery  discharged  showers  of  bombs,  balls,  and  rockets. 
These  it  was  thought  would  ensure  success ;  and  they 
were  moving  forward  with  all  the  pride  and  pomp  of  war 
when  the  American  batteries  opened  and  caused  their  ad- 
vance to  halt.  The  conflict  continued  in  several  quarters 
until  the  assailants,  being  too  roughly  handled,  abandon- 
ed for  the  time,  the  general  attack  which  they  had  medi- 
tated. One  hundred  and  twenty  of  them  were  killed  and 
wounded  ;  the  loss  of  the  Americans  did  not  exceed  nine 
killed  and  eight  or  ten  w^ounded. 

While  Jackson  and  his  comrades  were  thus  bravely  re- 
pelling the  foe,  a  panic  seized  the  Legislature  at  New 
Orleans.     Apprized  that  it  was  secretly  agitated  to  offer 


32  BIOGRAPHY    OP 

terms  of  capitulation,  he  directed  the  Governor  to  arrest 
the  members  and  liold  them  subject  to  his  further  orders, 
the  moment  the  project  of  surrendering  should  be  fully 
disclosed.  The  Governor  at  once  placed  an  armed  force 
at  the  door  of  the  capitol,  prevented  the  members  from 
convening,  and  thus  stifled  whatever  schemes  might  have 
been  proposed.  Various  and  shrewd  devices  were  practis- 
ed by  Jackson  to  conceal  from  the  enemy  the  comparative 
paucity  of  his  force,  and  the  miserable  dearth  of  arms  in 
his  camp.  From  the  general  government  no  supply  of 
arms  and  ordnance  had  been  received,  except  one  boat- 
load brought  down  the  Mississippi  by  General  Carroll. 

Skirmishes  alone,  by  advanced  parties,  occurred  for  se- 
veral days  af  .er  the  attack  of  the  28th  of  December.  The 
British  were  encamped  two  miles  below  the  American 
army,  on  a  perfect  plain,  and  in  full  view.  In  the  inter- 
val between  the  period  just  mentioned,  and  the  1st,  of 
January,  they  were  busy  in  preparing  for  another  assault 
on  an  enlarged  scale.  An  impenetrable  fog  prevailed  du- 
ring the  night  of  the  31st,  and  until  nine  o'clock  of  the 
following  morning:  when  that  was  dispelled,  there  stood 
disclosed  to  the  Americans,  several  heavy  batteries,  at  the 
distance  of  six  hundred  yards,mounting  eighteen  and  twen- 
ty-four pound  carronades.  Tliese  were  immediately  open- 
ed by  the  British,  and  a  tremendous  discharge  of  artiller}^, 
accompanied  by  Congreve  rockets,  was  maintained  until 
near  noon.  A  vast  number  of  balls  w^ere  directed  against 
the  building  in  which  Jackson  was  believed  to  be.  It  was 
battered  into  a  lieap  of  ruins,  but  the  general,  according 
to  his  custom,  had  repaired  to  the  line  as  soon  as  he  heard 
the  sound  of  the  enemy's  cannon.  The  roar  of  the  Ame- 
rican guns  proved  that  there  would  l)e  a  vigorous  defence  ; 
and  with  such  effect  were  they  manngcd,  that  the  British 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  33 

batteries  were  disabled,  and  the  assailants  compelled  to  re- 
tire, by  three  o'clock,  despairing  of  a  breach  in  the  line, 
and  astonished  at  the  precision  with  which  the  ''  Yankees" 
threw  their  shot.  An  advance  was  made  upon  General 
Coifee's  brigade,  in  order  to  turn  the  left,  but  with  no  bet- 
ter success.  To  be  prepared  against  all  contingencies  Jack- 
son had  established  another  line  of  defence  about  two 
miles  in  the  rear,  and  where  his  unarmed  troops  (no  in- 
considerable number)  were  stationed,  as  a  show  of  strength. 

On  the  4th  of  January,  arrived  the  long-expected  rein- 
forcement from  Kentucky,  amounting  to  two  thousand  two 
hundred  and  fifty  men,  of  whom  about  five  hundred  had 
muskets,  and  the  rest  guns,  from  which  little  or  no  ser- 
vice could  be  anticipated.  New  Orleans  had  been  previ- 
ously searched  for  weapons  and  stripped  of  whatever  were 
discovered.  The  British  were  at  the  same  time  reinforced 
in  a  much  more  satisfactory  way  for  them.  Now  ap- 
proached the  great  and  last  struggle.  General  Jackson, 
unmoved  by  appearances,  anxiously  desired  it — he  sel- 
dom slept— he  was  always  at  his  post,  that  there  might  be 
no  relaxation  of  vigilance  on  any  side. 

On  the  memorable  8th  of  January,  the  signals,  in- 
tended to  produce  concert  in  the  enemy's  movements, 
were  descried  at  dawn.  They  were  prepared  to  storm  the 
line,  and  the  charge  was  made  with  so  much  celerity  that 
the  American  soldiers  at  the  outposts  had  scarcely  time  to 
fly  in.  Showers  of  bombs  and  balls  were  poured  from  new 
batteries.  The  two  British  divisions,  commanded  by  Sir 
Edward  Packenham  in  person,  pressed  forward.  A  thick 
fog  enabled  them  to  approach  within  a  short  distance  of 
the  intrenchments  before  they  were  discovered  :  but  this 
circumstance  insured  them  defeat  and  destruction.  The 
Americnn  artillery  and   small  arm^.  discharged  in  a  ron- 


34  BIOGRAPHY  OP 

tinued  volley,  mowed  down  their  works  and  arrested  their 
progress.  The  fatal  aim  of  the  western  marksmen  was 
never  so  terribly  exemplified.  Sir  Edward  Packenham, 
seeing  that  his  troops  wavered  and  receded,  hastened  to 
the  front,  but  quickly  fell,  mortally  w^ounded,  in  the  arms 
of  his  aid-de-camp.  Generals  Gibbs  and  Keene  were  also 
dangerously  hurt  and  borne  from  the  field,  which  by  this 
time  was  strewed  with  dead  and  dying.  The  British  co- 
lumns, often  broken  and  driven  back,  were  repeatedly 
formed  and  urged  forward  anew.  Convinced  at  last  that 
nothing  could  be  accomplished,  they  abandoned  the  con- 
test, and  a  general  and  disorderly  retreat  ensued.  One 
American  redoubt  was  carried  by  superior  numbers,  but 
quickly  evacuated  under  the  fire  of  the  riflemen  at  the  line. 
So  great  was  the  carnage  of  the  British ;  so  perilous  the 
disorder  into  \vhich  they  were  thrown,  that  had  arms 
been  possessed  by  that  large  portion  of  the  American  mi- 
litia who  had  remained  inactive  and  useless  for  the  want  of 
them,  the  whole  British  force  7?iifst  have  surrendered. 
But,  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  case,  Jack- 
son was  unable  to  attempt,  without  extreme  rashness,  a 
pursuit  of  the  vanquished.  He  adopted  the  safe  alternative 
of  continuing  in  his  position. 

Accordingly  to  General  Lambert's  official  report  of  the 
affair  of  the  8th,  the  British  loss,  in  the  main  attack  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  river,  amounted  to  upwards  of  two  thou- 
sand men,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners.  It  may  be' 
estimated  at  nearly  three  thousand,  while  that  of  the  Ame- 
ricans was  hut  thirteeji.  The  effective  force  of  the  latter 
at  the  line  on  the  left  bank,  was  three  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred— that  of  the  enemy  at  least  nine  thousand.  The 
whole  force  landed  from  the  British  ships  in  Louisiana  is 
believed  to  have  been  about  fourteen  thousand.      The  Bri- 


GENERAL   JACKSON. 


35 


tish  Commander  in  Chief  and  Major  General  Gibbs  died  of 
their  wounds,  besides  many  of  the  most  valued  and  dis- 
tinguished British  officers.  On  the  ninth  the  enemy  re- 
quested  and  obtained  an  armistice  of  some  hours  to  bury 
their  dead. 

After  the  action  of  the  8th  the  American  batteries  were 
continually  throwing  balls,  and  bombs,  into  the  British 
camp.  Harassed,  dismayed  and  enfeebled,  tliat  once 
powerful  army  which  was  to  arrive  at  New  Orleans  by  a 
primrose  path,  and  hold  in  subjection  all  the  lower  region 
of  the  INIississippi,  took  a  final  and  furtive  leave  in  the 
night  of  the  18th  of  January,  and  embarked  in  their  ship- 
ping for  the  West  Indies.  Thus  ended  the  mighty  inva- 
sion, in  twenty-six  days  after  the  foreign  standard  had 
been  exultingly  planted  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi. 
Thus  triumphed  General  Jackson  by  a  wonderful  com- 
bination of  boldness  and  prudence  ;  energy  and  adroitness  ; 
desperate  fortitude  and  anxious  patriotism. 

Though  the  enemy  had  withdrawn  from  New  Orleans 
in  the  manner  which  has  been  stated,  Jackson  could  not 
be  sure  that  they  would  not  return.  Against  this  contin- 
gency, he  prepared  himself  by  cautious  arrangements  in 
the  distribution  of  his  force,  and  the  construction  of  new 
defences  at  assailable  points,  before  he  returned  to  New 
Orleans.  In  that  city  he  was  received  as  a  deliverer — al- 
most every  mind  was  kindled  to  enthusiasm  from  the 
considerations  of  the  evils  which  he  had  averted,  as  well 
as  of  the  victories  which  he  had  gained.  The  most  so- 
lemn and  lively  demonstration  of  public  respect  and  gra- 
titude succeeded  each  other  daily,  until  the  period  of  his 
departure  for  Nashville  soon  after  the  annunciation  of  the 
peace  concluded  at  Ghent  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States.     Though  honoured  and  cherished  by  the 


ot)  JjlOGKAPHV  OF 

larger  part  of  the  citizens,  he  was  not,  however  without 
occasion  to  display  the  energy  and  decision  of  his  charac- 
ter in  a  wa)^  that  favoured  the  ends  of  jealousy  and  detrac- 
tion. Anonymous  articles  calculated  to  excite  mutiny 
among  the  troops  and  afford  the  enemy  dangerous  intelli- 
gence, having  appeared  in  one  of  the  newspapers  of  New 
Orleans,  he  caused  the  author  of  it  to  be  revealed  to  him 
by  the  editor  of  the  paper.  He  found  that  the  offender 
was  u  member  of  the  Legislature,  but  this  circumstance 
did  not  prevent  him  from  ordering  his  arrest  and  deten- 
tion for  trial.  Application  was  made  to  one  of  the  Judges 
for  a  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  and  it  was  immediately  issued. 
We  have  already  mentioned  that  Jackson  arrested  the 
Judge  also  and  sent  him  from  the  city.  We  now  advert 
again  to  this  incident,  in  order  to  relate  the  sequel.  The 
General  had  not  yet  raised  the  edict  of  martial  law,  there 
being  no  certain  intelligence  of  peace  or  of  the  departure 
of  the  enemy  from  the  coast.  Within  a  few  days  the  ces- 
sation of  hostilities  was  officially  announced.  The  judge 
was  restored  to  his  post  and  the  exercise  of  his  functions. 
Without  the  loss  of  time  a  rule  of  court  was  granted  for 
general  Jackson  to  appear  and  shew  cause  why  an  attach- 
ment for  contempt  should  not  issue,  on  the  ground  that  he 
had  refused  to  obey  a  wTit  and  imprisoned  the  organ  of 
the  law.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  appear  and  submit  a  full 
and  very  able  answer,  justifying  his  proceedings.  After 
argument  before  the  Court,  the  rule  was  made  absolute  ; 
an  attachment  sued  out,  and  Jackson  brought  up  to  answer, 
interrogatories.  He  declined  answering  them  ;  but  asked 
for  the  sentence,  which  the  Judge  then  proceeded  to  pass. 
It  was  a  Jine  of  one  thousand  dollars.  The  spectators 
who  crowded  the  hall  betrayed  the  strongest  indignation. 
As  soon  as  he  entered  his  carriage,  it  was  siezed  by  the 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  37 

people  and  drawn  by  them  to  the  coffee-house,  amid  the 
acclamations  of  a  large  concourse.  When  he  arrived  at 
his  quarters,  he  put  the  amount  of  his  fine  into  the  hands 
of  his  aid-de-camp,  and  caused  it  to  be  discharged  without 
delay.  He  was  scarcely  beforehand' with  the  citizens, 
who  in  a  short  time  raised  the  sum  among  themselves,  by 
contribution,  and  were  anxious  to  be  permitted  to  testify 
at  once  their  gratitude  and  shame.  What  was  thus  col- 
lected was  appropriated  at  his  request  to  a  charitable  in- 
stitution. He  enjoyed  the  consciousness  that  the  powers 
which  the  exigency  of  the  times  forced  him  to  assume, 
had  been  exercised  exclusively  for  the  public  good,  and 
that  they  had  saved  the  country.  In  1821,  the  Corpora- 
tion of  New  Orleans  voted  fifty  thousand  dollars  for 
erecting  a  marble  statute  appropriate  to  his  military  servi- 
ces. The  same  body  gave  also  one  thousand  dollars  for  a 
portrait  of  him  painted  by  Mr.  Earle  of  Nashville.  Thus, 
the  miserable  fine  may  be  said  to  have  been  obliterated. 

On  his  return  to  Nashville — a  journey  of  eight  hundred 
miles — he  saw  on  every  side  marks  of  exultation  and  de- 
light. It  must  be  within  the  memory  of  most  of  our  rea- 
ders, what  was  the  sensation  produced  throughout  the 
union  by  the  tidings  from  New  Orleans,  and  what  the 
popular  enthusiasm  concerning  the  merits  of  *'  Old  Hic- 
kory." 

For  two  years  afterwards  he  remaihed  on  his  farm,  re- 
taining his  rank  in  the  army,  but  chiefly  occupied  with 
rural  pleasures  and  labors.  In  this  interval,  the  portion 
of  the  Seminoles  who  were  driven  into  Florida,  combin- 
ing with  fugitive  negroes  from  the  adjoining  States,  and 
instigated  by  British  adventurers  whose  objects  were  blood 
and  rapine,  became  formidable  in  numbers  and  hardihood 
and  began  to  execute  schemes  of  robbery  and  vengeance 


38  BIOGRAPHY  OF 

against  the  Americans  of  the  frontiers.  It  having  been 
represented  to  the  American  government  that  murders 
had  been  committed  on  our  defenceless  citizens,  General 
Gains,  the  acthig  commander  in  the  southern  district,  was 
ordered,  in  the  summer  of  1817,  with  a  considerable  force, 
to  take  a  station  near  the  borders  for  their  protection.  He 
was  at  first  directed  to  keep  within  the  territorial  limits  of 
the  United  States,  and  abstain  from  every  attempt  to  cross 
the  Florida  line;  but  to  demand  of  the  Indians,  the  perpe- 
trators of  the  crimes  thus  committed,  without  involving  the 
innocent,  and  without  a  general  rupture  with  the  deluded 
savages.  Such  murders  having  been  known  to  have  been 
committed,  attended  with  aggravating  circumstances  of  ra- 
pine and  cruelty,  Gen.  Gains,  in  conformity  with  his  or- 
ders, made  the  demand.  The  savages  through  the  deceptive 
representations  of  foreign  incendiaries,  were  led  to  believe 
the  strength  of  the  United  States  not  sufficient  to  subdue 
them  ;  or,  if  their  own  forces  were  incompetent  to  sustain 
the  conflict,  they  would  receive  assistance  from  the  Brit- 
ish, The  promises,  made  by  unauthorised  agents,  were 
founded  upon  a  pretence,  that  the  United  States  had  bound 
themselves,  by  a  treaty  of  Ghent,  to  restore  the  lands 
which  the  Indians  had  ceded  at  Fort  Jackson,  previously 
to  that  treaty  ;  and  that  the  British  government  would  en- 
force its  observance.  Under  this  influence  they  not  only 
refused  to  deliver  the  murderers,  but  repeated  their  mas- 
sacres whenever  opportunity  offered  ;  and,  to  evade  the 
arm  of  justice,  took  refuge  across  the  line,  in  Florida.  In 
this  state  of  aftairs  in  Nov.  1817,  Lt.  Scott,  of  the  United 
States  army,  under  Gen.  Gains,  with  47  persons,  men, 
women,  and  children,  in  a  boat,  on  the  Appalachicola  ri- 
ver, about  a  mile  below  the  junction  of  the  Flint  and  Co- 
hatahoochie,  was  supprised  by  an  ambuscade  of  Indians, 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  39 

fired  upon,  and  the  whole  detachment,  killed  and  taken 
by  the  Indians,  except  six  men,  who  escaped  by  flight. 
Those  who  were  taken  alive,  were  wantonly  murdered  by 
the  ferocious  savages,  who  seized  the  little  children  and 
dashed  out  their  brains  against  the  side  of  the  boat,  and 
butchered  all  the  helpless  females  except  one,  who  was 
afterwards  retaken.  Gen.  Gains  was  not  yet  authorised 
to  cross  into  Florida,  to  enforce  a  compliance  with  his  de- 
mand for  the  delivery  of  the  murderers,  while  the  Indians 
were  collecting  in  large  numbers  upon  the  line,  which  they 
seemed  to  think  a  perfect  safeguard,  and  from  which  they 
continued  their  predatory  excursions.  A  letter  from  the 
Secretary  of  War,  of  the  9th  Dec.  1817,  authorised  Gen. 
Gains,  in  case  this  state  of  things  should  continue,  and  it 
should  become  impossible  by  any  other  means,  to  prevent 
their  depredations,  to  exercise  a  sound  discretion  as  to 
crossing  the  Florida  line,  in  order  to  break  up  their  estab- 
lishments ;  and  on  the  16th  of  the  same  month,  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  by  letter,  directed  to  Gen.  Gaines,  fully  au- 
thorised him  to  cross  the  line,  and  attack  the  Indians  with- 
in the  Spanish  territory,  should  they  still  refuse  to  make 
reparation  for  depredation  already  committed. 

Intelligence  being  received  by  the  war  department  of 
the  massacre  of  Lieutenant  Scott  and  his  companions,  Gen- 
eral Jackson  was  directed,  by  letter  of  the  26th  Decem- 
ber, 1817,  to  repair  to  Fort  Scott,  and  take  command  of 
the  forces  in  that  quarter ;  with  authority,  in  case  he  should 
deem  it  necessary,  to  call  upon  the  executives  of  the  adja- 
cent states  for  additional  force.  He  was  referred  to  the 
previous  orders  given  to  General  Gaines,  and  directed  to 
concentrate  his  forces,  and  adopt  '^  the  measures  necessa- 
ry to  terminate  a  conflict  which  had  been  avoided  from 
considerations  of  liumaiiilv,  but  wliich  had  now  become 


30  BIOGRAPHY   OP 

indispensable,  from  the  settled  hostility  of  the  savage  en- 
emy." In  January  following,  the  Secretary  of  War,  in  a 
letter  to  General  Gains,  said,  "  The  honour  of  the  United 
States  requires,  that  the  war  with  the  Seminoles  should 
be  terminated  speedily,  and  with  exemplary  punishment 
for  hostilities  so  unprovoked."  Under  these  oMers,  and 
in  this  critical  state  of  affairs.  General  Jackson,  having 
first  collected  Tennessee  volunteers,  with  that  zeal  and 
promptness  which  have  ever  marked  his  career,  repaired 
to  the  post  assigned,  and  assumed  the  command.  The 
necessity  of  crossing  the  line  into  Florida  was  no  longer 
a  subject  of  doubt.  A  large  force  of  Indians  and  negroes 
had  made  that  territory  their  refuge,  and  the  Spanish  au- 
thority was  either  too  weak  or  too  indifferent  to  restrain 
them  ;  and  to  comply  with  orders  given  him  from  the  de- 
partment of  war,  he  penetrated  immediately  into  the  Semi- 
nole towns,  driving  the  enemy  before  him,  and  reduced 
them  to  ashes.  In  the  council  house  of  the  king  of  the 
Mickasukians,  more  than  50  fresh  scalps,  and  in  an  adja- 
cent house,  upwards  of  300  old  scalps,  of  all  ages  and  sex- 
es, were  found  ;  and  in  the  centre  of  the  public  square  a 
red  pole  was  erected,  crowned  with  scalps,  known  by  the 
hair  to  have  belonged  to  the  companions  of  Lieutenant 
Scott 

To  inflict  merited  punishment  upon  these  barbarians, 
and  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  these  massacres,  by  bring- 
ing the  war  to  a  vSpccdy  and  a  successful  termination,  he 
pursued  his  march  to  St.  Marks  ;  there  he  found,  confor- 
mably to  previous  information  that  the  Indians  and  ne- 
groes had  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  post  to  them  ; 
and  that  the  Spanish  garrison,  according  to  the  comman- 
dant's own  acknowledgement,  was  too  weak  to  support 
it.      He  asrertninod  also  that  the  enein y  had  been  supplied 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  41 

with  the  means  of  carrying  on  the  war,  from  the  comman- 
dant of  tlie  post;  that  foreign  incendiaries,  instigating  the 
savages,  had  free  communication  with  the  fort ;  councils 
of  war  were  permitted  by  the  commandant  to  be  held  by 
the  chiefs  and  warriors  within  his  own  quarters  ;  the  Spa- 
nish storehouses  were  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the  hostile 
party,  and  actually  filled  with  goods  belonging  to  them, 
and  property,  known  to  have  been  plundered  from  Ame- 
rican citizens,  was  purchased  from  them  by  the  comman- 
dant, while  he  professed  friendship  to  the  United  States. 
Gen.  Jackson,  therefore,  had  no  hesitation  to  demand  of 
the  commandant  of  St.  Marks,  the  surrender  of  that  post, 
that  it  might  be  garrisoned  with  an  American  force,  and, 
when  the  Spanish  officer  hesitated  to  deliver  it,  he  enter- 
ed the  fort  by  force,  though  without  bloodshed,  the  enemy 
having  fled,  and  the  garrison  being  too  weak  to  make  op- 
position. Convinced  of  the  necessity  of  rapid  movements, 
in  regard  to  the  ultimate  success  of  the  expedition,  he  im- 
mediately marched  his  forces  to  Suwaney,  seized  upon  the 
stores  of  the  enemy  and  burnt  their  villages. 

A  variety  of  circumstances  convinced  Gen.  Jackson 
that  the  savages  had  commenced  their  war,  and  persisted 
in  their  barbarities  ;  under  the  influence  of  some  foreign 
incendiaries  more  criminal  than  the  uncivilized  natives. 
Alexander  Arhuthnot^  who  avowed  himself  a  British  sub- 
ject and  resided  among  the  savages  as  an  Indian  trader, 
was  taken  at  St.  Marks,  to  which  place  he  had  withdrawn 
as  danger  approached,  and  was  living  as  an  inmate  in  the 
family  of  the  commandant.  It  appearing  that  he  had  been 
a  zealous  advocate  for  the  pretended  rights  of  the  savages, 
and  in  this  respect  the  successor  of  the  notorious  Colonel 
Nichols,  of  the  British  Colonial  Marines  ;  that  he  had  re- 
peatedly written  in  their  behalf  1o  the  Spanish  Governoi; 

6 


43  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

of  St.  Augustine,  the  Governor  of  Bahamas,  the  British 
minister  in  the  United  States,  and  to  Colonel  Nichols,  en- 
deavouring to  procure  aid  from  both  those  governors  against 
the  United  States ;  that  he  had  repeatedly  advised  the  In- 
dians not  to  comply  with  the  treaty  of  Fort  Jackson,  as- 
suring them  that  the  lands  ceded  to  the  United  States  by 
them  in  1814,  were  to  be  restored  by  virtue  of  the  treaty 
of  peace  with  Great  Britain.  Gen.  Jackson  ordered  him 
to  be  tried  by  a  Court  of  Enquiry,  consisting  of  thirteen  re- 
spectable officers,  with  General  Gains,  as  president.  Upon 
satisfactory  testimony,  he  was  convicted  of  inciting  and 
stirring  up  the  hostile  Creeks  to  war  against  the  United 
States  and  her  citizens  ;  and  of  aiding,  abetting,  and  com- 
forting the  enemy,  supplying  them  with  the  means  of  war; 
and  by  the  Court  was  sentenced  to  he  hung. — Robert  C. 
Jimbrister^  late  a  Lieutenant  of  the  British  Marine  corps, 
and  with  the  hostile  Indians  and  fugitive  negroes  the  suc- 
cessor of  Woodbine,  of  notorious  memory,  was  taken  near 
the  mouth  of  Suwaney  river.  It  being  well  known  that 
he  had  been  a  leader  and  commander  of  the  hostile  In- 
dians and  fugitive  slaves,  Gen.  Jackson  ordered  him  to  be 
tried  by  the  same  Court  Martial.  Upon  abundant  evidence 
he  also  was  convicted  of  having  aided  and  comforted  the 
enemy,  supplying  them  with  the  means  of  war  by  giving 
them  intelligence  of  the  movements  and  operations  of  the 
army  of  the  United  States,  and  by  sending  the  Indians 
and  Negroes  to  meet  and  fight  against  them :  and  upon 
his  own  confession,  as  well  as  the  clearest  proof  of  his  hav- 
ing led  and  commanded  the  lower  Creeks  in  carrying  on 
the  war  against  the  United  States,  he  was  by  the  Court 
sentenced  to  be  shot.  One  of  the  members  however  re- 
quested a  reconsideration  of  the  sentence,  it  was  agreed  to; 
and  on  a  revision,  the  Court  sentenced  him  to  receive 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  43 

fifty  stripes  on  his  bare  back,  and  be  confined  with  a  ball 
and  chain  to  hard  labour  for  twelve  calender  months.  Gen. 
Jackson  approved  the  sentence  in  the  case  of  Arbuthnot : 
and,  in  the  case  of  Ambrister,  he  disapproved  the  reconsi- 
deration, and  confirmed  the  first  sentence.  They  were 
both  executed  accordingly. 

Having  thus  far  efiected  his  objects,  Gen.  Jackson  con- 
sidered the  war  at  an  end.  St.  Marks  being  garrisoned 
by  an  American  force  ;  the  Indian  towns  at  Mickasuky 
and  Suwaney  destroyed ;  the  two  Indian  chiefs  who  had 
been  the  prime  movers  and  leaders  of  the  savages,  one  of 
whom  had  commanded  the  party  that  murdered  Lieuten- 
ant Scott  and  his  companions,  and  the  two  principal  fo- 
reign instigators,  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister,  having  been 
taken  and  executed,  the  American  commander  ordered  the 
Georgia  militia,  who  had  joined  him,  to  be  discharged, 
and  was  about  to  return  himself  to  Tennessee.  But  he 
soon  learned  that  the  Indians  and  negroes  were  collecting 
in  bands  west  of  the  Appalachicola  ;  which  would  render 
it  necessary  for  him  to  send  a  detachment  to  scour  the 
country  in  that  quarter.  While  preparing  for  this  object, 
he  was  informed  that  the  Indians  were  admitted  freely  by 
the  Governor  of  Pensacola  ;  that  they  were  collecting  in 
large  numbers,  500  being  in  Pensacola  on  the  15th  of 
April,  many  of  whom  were  known  to  be  hostile,  and  had 
just  escaped  from  the  pursuit  of  our  troops  :  that  the  ene- 
my was  furnished  with  ammunition  and  supplies,  and  re- 
ceived intelligence  of  the  movements  of  our  forces,  from 
that  place :  that  a  number  of  them  had  sallied  out  and 
murdered  eighteen  of  our  citizens,  settlers  upon  the  Alaba- 
ma, and  were  immediately  received  by  the  Governor,  and 
by  him  transported  across  the  bay,  that  they  might  elude 
pursuit. 


44  BIOGRAPHY  -OF 

These  facts  being  ascertained  by  Gen.  Jackson  from  un- 
questionable authority,  he  immediately  took  up  his  line  of 
march  towards  Pensacola,  at  the  head  of  a  detachment  of 
about  1200  men,  for  the  purpose  of  counteracting  the  views 
of  the  enemy.  On  the  18th  of  May,  he  crossed  the  Appa- 
lachicola  at  the  Ocheese  village,  with  the  view  of  scour- 
ing the  country  west  of  that  river  j  and,  on  the  23d  of  the 
same  month,  he  received  a  communication  from  the  Go- 
vernor of  West  Florida,  protesting  against  his  entrance 
into  that  province,  commanding  him  to  retire  from  it,  and 
declaring  that  he  would  repel  force  by  force,  if  he  should 
not  obey.  This  communication,  together  with  other  in- 
dications of  hostility  in  the  Governor,  who  had  been  well 
advised  of  the  object  of  Gen.  Jackson's  operations,  deter- 
mined the  measures  to  be  pursued.  He  marched  directly 
to  Pensacola,  and  took  possession  of  that  place  the  following 
day,  the  Governor  having  fled  to  Fort  Carlos  de  Barran- 
cas ;  which  post,  after  a  feeble  resistance,  was  also  sur- 
rendered, on  the  2Sth.  By  these  events,  the  Indians  and 
fugitive  negroes  were  effectually  deprived  of  all  possible 
means  of  continuing  their  depredations,  or  screening  them- 
selves from  the  arm  of  justice.  They  were  so  scattered 
and  reduced  as  to  be  no  longer  a  formidable  enemy  ;  but 
as  there  were  still  many  small  marauding  parties  supposed 
to  be  concealed  in  the  swamps,  who  might  make  sudden 
and  murderous  inroads  upon  the  American  frontier  set- 
tlers, Jackson  called  into  service  two  companies  of  volun- 
teer rangers,  with  instructions  to  scour  the  country  be- 
tween the  Mobile  and  Appalichicola  rivers.  Thus  ended 
the  campaign  and  the  Seminole  war.  The  severest  hard- 
ships were  undergone  by  the  troops  and  their  general  with 
the  utmost  fortitude.  They  did  not  encounter  any  con- 
siderable bands  of  the  foe,  though  the  latter  had  been  em- 


GENERAL    JACKSON  45 

bodied  to  the  number  of  two  thousand  ;  but  the  kind  of 
warfare  which  they  were  compelled  to  wage  was  on  that 
account  the  more  exhausting  and  arduous. 

Jackson  returned  to  Nashville  in  June,  1818,  to  the  be- 
loved retirement  of  his  farm.  New  acknowledgments 
and  new  marks  of  admiration  were  bestowed  upon  him  in 
every  part  of  the  Union.  If  the  general  government 
deemed  it  expedient  to  restore  St.  Marks  and  Pensacola 
to  the  Spanish  authorities,  it  yet  applauded  and  defended 
what  he  had  done.  The  British  cabinet,  after  full  inqui- 
ry, resolved  to  abstain  from  all  complaint  respecting  the 
execution  of  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister.  They  declared 
that  these  culprits  had  leagued  with  the  Indians,  and  ac- 
ted at  their  own  peril.  The  conduct  of  the  Tennessee 
warrior  w^as,  however,  destined  to  be  most  vehemently 
arraigned  and  rigidly  scrutinized  in  another  quarter. 
Parties  were  formed  in  different  parts  of  the  country  res- 
pecting the  propriety  of  the  occupations  of  the  Spanish 
fortresses,  and  the  execution  of  the  British  incendiaries. 
In  the  month  of  January,  1818,  in  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives of  the  United  States,  a  Committee  reported  a  reso- 
lution disapproving  the  latter  of  those  acts  ;  and  a  mem- 
ber moved  another  resolution,  condemning  the  former  of 
them.  These  resolutions  gave  rise  to  a  most  earnest  and 
elaborate  debate,  which  was  protracted  through  many 
weeks,  and  in  which  Jackson  and  the  Executive  Depart- 
ment were  attacked  and  defended  with  the  utmost  zeal  and 
signal  ability.  Every  proposition  to  condemn  either  was 
finally  rejected  by  a  considerable  majority  of  the  House, 
and  reprobated  by  a  much  larger  majority  of  the  people. 
The  most  eloquent  of  the  orators  w^ho  supported  the  reso- 
lutions, proclaimed  that  ^^he  most  cheerfully  and  entirely 
acquitted  the  General  of  any  intention  to  violate  the  laws 


46  BIOGRAPHr    OP 

of  his  country,  or  the  obligations  of  humanity.'*  Who- 
ever studies  Jackson's  ample  and  argumentative  despatch- 
es, and  the  speeches  delivered  in  his  behalf,  must  be  con- 
vinced that  he  did  neither,  and  that  in  making  an  exam- 
ple of  the  two  instigators  and  confederates  of  the  savages, 
and  seizing  upon  fortresses,  which  were  only  used  for 
hostile  purposes,  he  avenged  and  served  the  cause  of  hu- 
manity and  the  highest  national  interests. 

His  desire  of  explaining  his  transactions  in  person,  to 
the  government  and  defending  himself  on  every  side, 
carried  him  to  Washington  at  this  period.  Thence  he 
came  to  Philadelphia,  and  proceeded  to  New  York. 
Wherever  he  appeared,  crowds  attended  with  unceasing 
plaudits.  In  each  of  these  cities  public  din-ners  and  balls 
were  given  in  his  honour;  military  escorts  provided;  ad- 
dresses delivered  by  deputations ;  and  to  these  his  answers 
were  uniformly  pertinent  and  dignified.  At  New  York, 
on  the  19th  of  Februar}^,  he  received  the  freedom  of  the 
city  in  a  gold  box  ;  and  there,  as  well  as  in  Baltimore,  the 
municipal  councils  requested,  and  obtained  his  portrait,  to 
be  placed  in  their  halls.  While  he  was  on  this  excursion 
a  report,  connected  with  the  history  of  the  Seminole  war, 
and  extremely  hostile  to  his  character,  was  made  from  a 
Committee  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  It  had  not 
the  concurrence  of  the  ablest  members  of  the  Committee, 
and  it  was  brought  forward  at  too  late  a  period  of  the  session 
of  Congress  to  be  discussed.  Nothing  more  was  supposed 
to  be  meant  by  its  author  than  to  cast  an  indictment  before 
the  pul)lic.  It  was  repelled  triumphantly,  in  a  defence 
which  was  published  in  the  National  Intelligencer,  on  the 
5th  of  March,  and  whicli  has  been  ascribed  to  General 
Jackson.  He  felt  deeply  imputations  which  he  knew  to  be 
not  onl}'  false,  but  utterly  irreconcilable  with  his  nature. 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  47 

The  issue  of  all  the  reports  and  harangues  was  such  as 
might  give  additional  comfort  to  his  domestic  hours  on 
his  return  to  his  farm,  where  he  enjoyed  again  a  period 
of  repose. 

When  the  treaty  with  Spain  ceding  the  Floridas  was 
finally  ratified,  Congress  passed  a  law  empowering  the 
President  to  vest  in  such  person  or  persons  as  he  might 
select,  all  the  military,  civil,  and  judicial  authority  exerci- 
sed by  the  officers  of  the  Spanish  government.  The  Pre- 
sident, under  this  law,  appointed  General  Jackson,  to  act 
in  the  first  place  as  commissioner  for  receiving  the  Pro- 
vinces, and  then  to  assume  the  government  of  them.  It 
was  intended  and  expressed  that  the  American  Governor 
should  exercise  all  the  functions  belonging  to  the  Spanish 
Governors,  Captain-Generals,  and  Intendants,  until  Con- 
gress should  provide  a  system  of  administration  as  in  the 
instances  of  the  other  territories. 

The  selection  of  Jackson  was  not  a  mere  mark  of  honor 
or  testimonial  of  public  gratitude.  His  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  country  and  the  energy  of  his  nature  recommend- 
ed him  specially  for  the  post  of  Governor.  Florida  was 
overrun  with  desperadoes  of  every  description  ;  it  was  the 
resort  of  a  motly  horde  of  speculators,  smugglers  of  ne- 
groes, and  adventurers  of  all  nations  ;  it  had  become  the 
theatre  of  complicated  intrigue  and  misrule.  His  personal 
reputation  was  calculated  to  overawe  corruption  and  vio- 
lence ;  his  inflexibility  and  'activity  in  repressing  all  dis- 
order and  spoil  were  sure  grounds  of  reliance  for  the  Pre- 
sident. It  was  not  without  reluctance  that  he  accepted 
this  new  and  almost  absolute  civil  command,  involving  an 
arduous  task  and  a  delicate  responsibility.  But,  having 
acceded,  from  a  sense  of  duty,  to  the  nomination,  he  re- 
paired to  his  station  with  his  usual  promptitude      On  the 


48  BIOGRAPHY    OP 

first  of  July,  1821,  he  issued  at  Pensacola,  his  proclama- 
tion announcing  that  possession  had  been  taken  of  the 
territory,  and  the  authority  of  the  United  States  establish- 
ed in  it  under  his  commission.  He  adopted  at  once  rigo- 
rous measures  for  the  introduction  of  a  regular  and  effi- 
cacious administration  of  affairs.  Courts  were  organized; 
a  police  was  instituted,  and  such  a  scheme  of  territorial  di- 
vision adopted  as  was  required  for  the  convenience  of  the 
inhabitants  and  the  speedy  execution  of  the  laws.  An 
occasion  arising  out  of  the  previous  and  prescriptive  laxity 
of  principal  and  perversion  of  right  in  the  provinces,  soon 
presented  itself  for  the  exertions  of  his  official  powers  and 
generous  sympathies. 

The  treaty  with  Spain  prescribed  that  all  documents 
relating  to  property  or  sovereignty  should  be  left  in  pos- 
session of  the  American  authorities.  On  the  22d  of  Au- 
gust, a  petition  was  submitted  to  the  Governor,  in  his 
capacity  of  the  highest  judicial  magistrate  from  the  Ame- 
rican alcade,  or  keeper  of  archieves,  that  certain  public 
documents  or  records,  required  by  individuals  to  enable 
them  to  prosecute  their  claims  to  property,  were  unlaw- 
fully detained  in  the  hands  of  a  person  of  the  name  of 
Soiisa.  The  governor  issued  his  commission  to  three  of- 
ficers, to  wait  on  Sousa  and  request  him  to  exhibit  and 
deliver  up  all  such  documents  in  his  possession.  Sousa 
exhibited  two  open  boxes  of  papers  which  he  affirmed  had 
been  intrusted  to  him  for  safe  keeping  by  the  late  Spa- 
nish Governor,  Colonel  Callava.  The  boxes  when  exami- 
ned were  found  to  contain  the  documents  w^anted  and 
other  records  of  suits  for  property  between  individuals. 
All  these  were  demanded  by  the  officers,  but  refused  by 
Sousa,  who  promised  however,  to  consult  Colonel  Callava. 
These  facts  being  reported  to  General  Jackson,  he  issued 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  49 

a  summons  to  Sousa  to  appear  before  him,  in  case  he  per- 
sisted in  retaining  the  papers.  The  answer  given  was, 
that  the  papers  had  been  sent  to  Colonel  Callava,  and  were 
in  the  latter's  house.  Two  of  the  official  family  of  the 
American  Governor  were  then  directed  by  him  to  repair 
with  the  alcade  to  Callava' s  dwelling,  to  demand  the  pa- 
pers, and  if  they  were  refused,  to  require  bjth  Callava 
and  his  steward  who  had  received  them  from  Sousa,  to 
appear  before  the  Governor.  The  Spaniards  insisted  at 
first  upon  retaining  the  papers,  and  after  promising  to  sur- 
render them,  when  a  list  was  furnished,  and  failing  to  do 
so,  and  obstinately  refusing  to  obey  the  summons  in  any 
manner,  he  was  finally  conducted  under  guard  to  the  of- 
fice of  the  Governor.  When  there  he  was  informed  of  the 
nature  and  propriety  of  the  demand  made  upon  him,  and 
apprized  that  the  further  withholding  of  the  papers  would 
be  regarded  as  a  contempt  of  the  Governor's  judicial  au- 
thority, and  subject  him  to  imprisonment.  He  would  do 
nothing  but  dictate  protests,  when  the  patience  of  Jackson 
being  exhausted,  he,  his  steward  and  Sousa  were  commit- 
ted to  prison,  until  the  papers  should  be  obtained. 

The  next  morning  the  box  in  which  the  papers  had 
been  seen  was  seized  and  opened  by  oiFicers  specially 
commissioned.  It  had  been  carefully  sealed  by  Callava, 
and  was  found  to  contain  what  was  sought.  Callava  and 
his  companions  were  then  released  from  jail.  The  records 
thus  recovered  related  to  the  estate  of  a  person  who  died 
at  Pensacola,  about  the  year  1807,  having  made  his  will, 
and  bequeathed  his  property  to  several  orphan  females, 
who  had  never  received  any  portion  of  it,  owing  to  the 
dishonesty  of  the  individuals  who  were  at  the  same  time 
its  depositaries  and  debtors.  Callava  himself  had  made 
decrees  in  favour  of  the  heirs,  which  were  discovered  in 

7 


50  BIOGRAPHY  OF 

the  box  and  had  been  suppressed  under  corrupt  influence. 
It  was  his  object  to  carry  off  all  the  evidence  necessary 
for  redress.  He  afterwards  published  in  the  American 
papers  an  exposition  of  the  treatment  which  he  had  ex- 
perienced, and  was  convicted  in  due  time  of  various 
misrepresentations  by  the  counter  statements  of  the  re- 
respectable  gentlemen  who  were  employed  in  the  affair 
by  the  Governor.  He  claimed  for  himself  the  immu- 
nities of  an  ambassador,  having  acted  as  the  deputy  of 
the  Captain  General  of  Cuba,  in  surrendering  the  Flori- 
das.  But  as  his  quality  of  Commissioner  had  ceased  when 
the  surrender  was  completed,  Jackson  could  view  him 
only  in  the  light  of  a  private  individual  charged  with  vio- 
lating both  public  and  private  rights,  and  determined  to 
set  the  supreme  judicatory  at  defiance.  To  have  allowed 
the  wrong  which  was  designed  to  be  committed,  w^ould 
have  been  utterly  inconsistent  with  what  was  due  to  the 
dignity  and  power  of  the  United  States,  and  the  claims  of 
oppressed  individuals  whose  sex  and  situation  particularly 
entitled  them  to  protection  and  sympathy.  The  just 
language  of  Jackson,  narrating  and  justifying  his  proceed- 
ings to  the  President,  was — '^When  men  of  high  stand- 
ing attempt  to  trample  upon  the  rights  of  the  weak,  they 
are  the  fittest  objects  for  example  or  punishment.  In 
general  the  great  can  protect  themselves  ;  but  the  poor  and 
humble  require  the  arm  and  shield  of  the  law.  ^'  Among  the 
civil  officers  sent  to  Florida,  by  the  President,  was  a  for- 
mer Senator  of  the  United  States,  Elegius  Fromentine, 
who  went  in  the  capacity  of  a  Judge,  with  a  jurisdiction 
limited  to  cases  that  might  arise  under  the  Revenue  Laws, 
and  the  acts  of  Congress  prohibiting  the  production  of 
slaves.  This  gentleman  consented  rashly,  at  the  instiga- 
tion of  some  of  the  friends  of  Callava,  to  issue  the  writ  of 


GExNERAL    JACKSON.  51 

habeas  corpasioexivicAila  the  Spaniard  from  confinement. 
The  general  Judiciary  Act  for  the  United  States,  under 
which  alone  the  Judge  could  claim  the  right  of  thus  inter- 
fering, had  not  been  extended  to  the  Floridas.  Jackson 
displayed  his  characteristic  decision  and  intelligence  in 
this  case — he  cited  the  Judge  to  appear  before  him  and 
answer  to  the  charge  of  a  contempt  of  the  superior  court 
and  a  serious  misdemeanor.  The  prisoner  was  released, 
the  papers  having  been  obtained,  before  Mr.  Fromentine 
was  able  to  present  himself  pursuant  to  the  summons. 
The  general  was  then  content  with  defining  to  him  the 
limits  of  his  competency  as  Judge,  and  uttering  a  severe 
rebuke  of  his  precipitation.  Very  bitter  complaints  were 
afterwards  made  by  both  parties  to  the  executive  depart- 
ment at  Washington. 

This  even,  was  not  the  end  of  the  Callava  case,  as  it 
has  been  called.  Several  Spanish  officers  who  had  re- 
mained with  the  ex-governor  in  the  province  ventured 
to  publish  in  a  Pensacola  paper,  an  article,  with  their  sig- 
natures, in  which  they  accused  the  General  of  violence 
and  tyranny.  It  was  stipulated  in  the  treaty  of  cession, 
that  all  the  Spanish  officers  should  be  withdrawn  from  the 
territories  ceded,  within  six  months  after  the  ratification 
of  the  treaty.  More  than  this  term  had  elapsed.  Jack- 
son issued  his  proclamation  without  delay,  commanding 
them,  as  trespassers  and  disturbers  of  the  public  peace,  to 
depart  in  the  course  of  a  week.  They  had  not  the  folly 
to  remain.  About  the  same  period,  important  documents 
and  archives,  which  the  Spaniards  had  no  right  to  retain, 
were  attempted  to  be  w^ithheld  by  the  ex-governor  of  East 
Florida.  Jackson,  on  hearing  of  this  attempt,  transmit- 
ted, by  mail,  his  orders  to  take  forcible  possesion  of  them; 
which  was  done  accordingly.     The  ex-governor  protest- 


\ 

\ 
\ 


52 


BIOGRAPHY   OF 


ed;  but  upon  insufficient  grounds,  and  with  personal  dis- 
grace. 

These  occurrences  produced  much  discussion  in  the 
newspapers,  and  vehement  remonstrances  from  the  Mi- 
nister Plenipotentiary  of  Spain  in  this  country.  Jackson's 
interpretation  of  his  own  powers,  and  those  of  Judge 
Fromentine,  and  his  measures  to  prevent  the  abduction 
of  the  papers,  were  ratified  and  fully  vindicated  by  the 
American  government.  The  undue  interest  which  the 
Spanish  officers  contrived  to  raise  in  their  favour,  w^ith 
the  assistance  of  the  General's  personal  enemies,  soon 
subsided  after  the  facts  and  respective  rights  became  bet- 
ter known.  On  the  7th  of  October,  Jackson  delegated 
his  powers  to  two  gentlemen,  the  secretaries  of  his  go- 
vernment, and  set  out  on  his  return  to  Nashville.  In 
his  dignified  and  argumentative  valedictory  address  to 
the  citizens  of  Florida,  he  informed  them  that  he  had 
completed  the  temporary  organization  of  the  two  provin- 
ces. He  stated,  and  justified,  his  motives  for  acting  as 
he  had  done  in  the  case  of  Callava.  *' With  the  excep- 
tion of  this  instance,"  he  added,  ^'I  feel  the  utmost  con- 
fidence in  saying,  that  nothing  has  occurred,  notwith- 
standing the  numerous  cases  in  which  I  have  been  called 
upon  to  interpose  my  authority,  either  in  a  judicial  or 
executive  capacity,  to  occasion  any  thing  like  distrust  or 
discontent." 

The  injury  which  his  health  had  sufiered  from  the  per- 
sonal hardships,  inevitable  in  his  campaigns,  forbade  him 
to  protract  his  residence  in  Florida.  Before  his  depar- 
ture he  received  from  the  citizens,  spontaneous  public 
manifestations  of  esteem  and  gratitude.  Attempts  were 
made  at  the  ensuing  session  of  Congress,  to  obtain  a 
condemnation  of  his  conduct  towards  Callava,  but  they 


GENERAL    JACKSON. 


Utterly  failed,  both  witli  the  Legislature  and  the  people. 
On  the  4th  of  July,  1822,  the  Governor  of  Tennessee,  by 
order  of  the  Legislature,  presented  him  with  a  sword  as 
a  testimonial  ''  of  the  high  respect"  entertained  by  the 
state  for  his  public  services.  And,  on  the  20th  of  Au- 
gust, of  the  same  year,  the  members  of  the  General  As- 
sembly of  Tennessee,  recommended  him  to  the  Union  for 
the  office  of  President — a  recommendation  which  has  been 
repeated  by  the  Legislature  of  Alabama,  and  various  as- 
semblages of  private  citizens  in  other  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. In  the  autumn  of  1823,  he  was  elected  to  the  Sen- 
ate of  the  United  States,  in  which  body  he  has  taken  his 
seat.  Social  honours  are  heaped  upon  him  at  Washing- 
ton, and  fresh  evidence  is  daily  transmitted  thither,  of  the 
high  estimation  in  which  he  is  held  at  a  distance.  In  the 
south-western,  and  some  of  the  southern  states,  and  in 
Pennsylvania,  he  is  eminently  popular.  Before  his  elec- 
tion to  the  Senate,  he  was  appointed  by  the  President, 
with  the  concurrence  of  the  Senate,  Minister  Plenipoten- 
tiary to  the  government  of  Mexico:  but  he  declined  the 
station  from  a  repugnance  to  the  monarchical  system 
which  then  prevailed  in  Mexico,  and  to  the  means  by 
which  the  supreme  power  had  been  usurped. 

In  person,  General  Jackson  is  tall,  and  remarkably 
erect  and  thin.  His  weight  bears  no  proportion  to  his 
height,  and  his  frame,  in  general,  does  not  appear  fitted 
for  trials  such  as  it  has  borne.  His  features  are  large; 
his  eyes  dark  blue,  with  a  keen  and  strong  glance;  his 
eye-brows  arched  and  prominent — his  complexion  is  that 
of  the  war-worn  soldier.  His  demeanor  is  easy  and  gen- 
tle: in  every  station  he  has  been  found  open  and  acces- 
sible to  all.  The  irritability  of  his  temper,  which  is  not 
denied  by  his  friends,  produces  contrasts  in  his  manner 


54  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

and  countenance  leading  to  very  different  conceptions 
and  representations  as  to  both:  but  that  natural  infirmity 
has  decreased,  and  those  who  have  lived  and  acted  with 
him,  bear  unanimous  testimony  to  the  general  mildness 
of  his  carnage  and  the  kindness  of  his  disposition.  It  is 
certain  that  he  has  inspired  his  soldiers,  his  military  house- 
hold, his  domestic  circle,  and  his  neighbours,  with  the 
most  affectionate  sentiments.  The  impetuosity  of  his 
nature,  his  impatience  of  wrong  and  encroachment,  his 
contempt  for  meanness,  and  his  tenaciousness  of  just  au- 
thority, have  involved  him  in  bitter  altercations  and  san- 
guinary quarrels : — his  resentments  have  been  fiercely 
executed,  and  his  censures  harshly  uttered:  yet  he  can- 
not be  accused  of  wanton  or  malicious  violence — the  sal- 
lies which  may  be  deemed  intemperate  can  be  traced  to 
strong  provocations,  operating,  in  most  instances,  upon 
his  patriotic  zeal  and  the  very  generosity  and  loftiness  of 
his  spirit.  He  sacrificed  the  enemies  of  his  country,  where 
he  deemed  that  signal  examples  of  rigor  were  necessary 
for  the  public  welfare  and  the  lasting  suppression  of  mur- 
der and  rapine — he  was  never  found  wanting  in  clemency 
and  humanity  towards  those  whom  essential  justice  and 
paramount  duty  allowed  him  to  spare  and  relieve.  Thus, 
after  the  battle  of  the  Horse  Shoe,  in  the  Creek  war,  every 
Indian  warrior  was  spared  who  surrendered  himself — se- 
veral of  his  men  lost  their  lives  in  endeavouring,  by  his 
orders,  to  save  some  obstinate  individuals  who  refused  to 
surrender ;  although  his  own  troops  were  suffering  with 
hunger,  he  forbade  the  corn  of  the  Indians  to  be  taken 
from  them,  and  caused  the  wounded  among  the  latter  to 
be  dressed  and  nursed  as  his  own  men.  At  the  battle  of 
Tohopeka,  an  infant  was  found  alive  on  the  breast  of  its 
lifeless  Indian  mother:  Jackson  directed  it  to  be  brought  to 


GENERAL   JACKSON.  55 

him,  and  not  being  able  to  prevail  upon  any  one  of  the  In- 
dian woman  to  undertake  tlie  care  of  it,  adopted  it  into 
his  family,  and  has  ever  since  proved  a  kind  protector  to 
the  orphan. 

In  the  various  critical  situations  in  which  he  was  placed 
by  emergencies  and  the  unlimited  discretion  cast  upon 
him,  he  appears  to  have  been  governed  by  general  and 
solid  principles  which  he  knew  how  to  apply  satisfacto- 
rily in  explaining  his  measures.  The  very  salutary  ener- 
gy and  decision  with  which  he  pursued  the  course,  that 
he  had  deliberately  concluded  to  be  right  and  necessary, 
subjected  him  to  the  belief  or  charge  of  having  acted 
merely  from  a  vehement,  overbearing,  or  arbitary  dispo- 
sition. If  his  feelings  were  strongly  roused  and  display- 
ed against  the  timid  or  the  traitorous  portion  of  the  inha- 
bitants of  New  Orleans  who  would  have  given  the  enemy 
an  easy  and  fatal  triumph — against  the  Spanish  authori- 
ties in  Florida,  who  served  the  British  and  supplied  the 
Seminoles — against  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister,  the  un- 
wearied instigators  and  insidious  confederates  of  the  Sa- 
vages thirsting  for  American  blood — against  the  imposter 
prophets,  who  had  directed  the  butchery  of  white  women 
and  children,  and  whose  occupations  it  was  to  incite  de- 
predation and  murder — against  a  Spanish  Governor  who 
would  have  violated  a  treaty  and  despoiled  orphan  fe- 
males of  their  inheritance — we  may  say  that  both  the 
warmth  of  those  feelings,  and  the  rigour  with  which  they 
were  manifested,  wdll  be  not  only  excused,  but  even  ad- 
mired by  generous  minds. 

The  copious  despatches  which  General  Jackson  had 
occasion  to  write  to  the  government,  detailing  his  cam- 
paigns and  official  proceedings;  his  numerous  addresses 
to  his  troops,  and  the  statements  and  arguments,  which 


56  BIOGRAPHY  or 

the  charges  preferred  n gainst  his  official  conduct,  compel- 
led him  to  publish  for  his  justification,  would  altogether^ 
form  a  sizeable  volume.  They  are  marked  by  great  flu- 
ency and  energy  of  expression  ;  cogent  reasoning  ;  apt 
reference  to  general  principles,  and  the  utmost  earnest- 
ness and  apparent  rectitude  of  intention.  He  writes  ner- 
vously and  perspicuously ;  he  speaks  with  fecility  and 
force.  Grace  and  refinement,  he  has  not  studied  either 
in  composition  or  delivery.  Those  qualities  are  not  to 
be  expected  in  one  whose  life  has  been  chiefly  passed  in 
such  scenes  as  we  have  sketched.  He  is  artificial  in  no- 
thing. His  reading  cannot  be  supposed  to  be  extensive 
nor  his  application  to  books  very  frequent.  In  regard  to 
business  he  has  been  always  found  indefatigable  and  saga- 
cious. He  possesses  a  competent  estate,  and  lives  hospi- 
tably in  the  manner  of  a  substantial  farmer.  He  is  with- 
out children.  His  amusements  have  consisted  in  the 
management  of  his  domestic  concerns,  the  sports  of  the 
■turf  and  social  intercourse.  He  is  temperate  in  his  diet 
and  in  all  respects  enjoys  a  good  private  reputation.  His 
public  character  is  to  be  known  from  the  history  of  his 
public  career,  which  we  have  regularly,  though  very  im- 
perfectly traced. 


Ileinarlx'S  of  the  Puhlislier. 

The  foreg-oing"  narrative  is  the  production  of  an  eminent  writer,  M-ho, 
althoug-h  his  sense  of  propriety  induced  him,  during  the  late  election 
contest,  in  liis  capacity  of  editor  of  a  respectable  newspaper,  to  oppose 
the  torrent  of  abuse  which  was  poured  on  General  Jackson,  uniformly 
expressed  his  predilection  for  the  re-election  of  Mr.  Adams.  It  may, 
therefore,  be  considered  an  impartialtestimony,  borne  in  favour  of  the 
General,  by  one  well  acquainted  with  the  subject,  and  well  quahfied 
to  judge  of  it.  It  is  particularly  on  this  account  that  it  has  been  trans- 
ferred to  this  M'orlc  from  that  in  which  it  first  appeared,  "  The  Ame- 
rican Monthly  Magazine." 


V^AvvVV^^^^Vaa.''^ 


(i 


\r 


H 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  57 

The  pag-cs  that  follow,  have  been  written  expressly  for  the  pre- 
sent publication,  by  an  autlior  of  distinguished  popularity,  who  has 
been  from  the  commencement  of  the  contest,  a  constant  and  zealous 
advocate  of  Jackson.  More  warmth  may,  therefore,  be  expected  in 
his  manner  of  defending-  his  favourite  candidate  from  the  aspersions 
with  which  he  was  assailed,  than  if  his  feelings  had  been  neutral  on 
the  subject.  It  is  believed,  however,  that  he  has  made  no  statement 
unwan'anted  by  truth,  nor  drawn  any  inference  which  the  most  rigid 
impartiality  will  not  sanction.  To  give  a  succinct  account  of  the  long 
and  severe  political  struggle  which  has  recently  terminated,  was  the 
task  imposed  upon  him.  Jackson's  history,  during  that  period,  affords 
no  events  of  a  striking  nature  to  be  introduced  into  our  pages.  The 
retirement  in  which  he  lived  was  unvaried  and  perfectly  tranquil.  A 
melancholy  event,  indeed,  took  place  after  the  contest  was  decided,  in 
which  the  whole  nation  has  strongly  sympathized.  Every  reader  will 
join  us  in  regretting  that  it  has  fallen  to  our  lot  to  record  the  domestic 
affliction  to  which  we  allude,  in  a  work  dedicated  to  the  virtue  and 
the  TRitJMrH  of  the  iLLrsTRiors  patriot,  who  has  sustained  it. 

Pkilad.  Feb.  22,  1829. 


In  a  country  like  the  United  States,  where  the  expres- 
sion of  opinion  relative  to  public  men  and  public  measures 
is  so  perfectly  unrestricted,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
conduct  of  one  who  has  acted  so  distinguished  a  part  as 
General  Jackson,  should  have  been  made  the  subject  of 
extensive  and  conflicting  animadversion.  While  the  suc- 
cessful brilliancy  of  his  actions,  and  the  incalculable  bene- 
fits they  conferred  on  the  country,  on  the  one  hand,  de- 
monstrated the  wisdom  of  his  measures  and  procured  for 
him  an  innumerable  array  of  grateful  admirers  and  zealous 
eulogists,  the  decisive  energy  and  occasional  severity  which 
the  necessity  of  affairs  sometimes  obliged  him  to  exert,  be- 
came, on  the  other,  topics  of  loud  and  acrimonious  repre- 
hension among  those  whose  inadequate  information,  or 
whose  tenacious  adherence  to  the  rules  of  abstract  right,  in 
opposition  to  the  most  imperious  demands  of  rigid  neces- 
sity, rendered  incompetent  or  partial  judges.   There  were 

8 


5S  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

many,  also,  It  may  well  be  supposed,  who  joined  the  cry 
of  censure  from  motives  of  no  very  honorable  nature — 
from  envy  of  superior  talents  and  jealousy  of  superior 
success :  for  it  is  a  truth  confirmed  by  every  day's  expe- 
rience, that 

**  Envy  win  merit,  as  its  shade  pursue." 

It  is  well  known  that  the  almost  immaculate  Washing- 
ton himself,  did  not,  even  in  the  midst  of  his  most  anx- 
ious and  glorious  efforts  for  his  country,  escape  the  shafts 
of  calumny  launched  at  him  by  men  actuated  by  envy 
and  jealousy.  Nor  is  there,  perhaps,  an  example  of  any 
great  and  good  man  passing  an  illustrious  life  unassailed 
by  them.  History  at  least  affords  none.  In  having  to 
endure  their  assaults,  therefore,  Jackson  had  only  to  sus- 
tain the  penalty  attached  to  human  greatness,  even  when 
it  is  founded  on  conduct  of  the  most  irreproachable  and 
beneficial  description. 

From  the  preceding  narrative  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
most  important  of  the  charges  adduced  against  General 
Jackson,  were  made  the  subject  of  Congressional  investi- 
gation in  the  session  of  1818 — 19.  His  accusers  mustered 
all  their  forces  on  the  occasion.  Nothing  that  could  be 
done  by  zeal,  industry  and  ingenuity  to  affix  guilt  upon 
his  proceedings,  was  neglected.  Malice  distorted  facts, 
and  sophistical  eloquence  endeavoured  to  give  the  colour- 
ing of  proofs  to  mere  assertions ; — but  in  vain.  Truth 
and  justice  triumphed.  Whatever  was  questionable  in  his 
conduct  appeared  to  Congress  and  to  the  nation,  not  only 
warranted  but  required  by  the  exigencies  of  the  occasion. 
His  enemies,  therefore,  instead  of  enjoying  the  gratifica- 
tion of  making  him  the  object  of  Congressional  censure 
and  national   distrust,   experienced  the  mortification   of 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  59 

finding  tlml  their  eilbrls  resulted  only  in  establishing  his 
fame  and  increasing  his  popularity.  Ilis  country  saw 
that  whatever  he  had  done  against  either  her  savage  or  her 
civilized  foes,  had  been  done,  not  for  his  own  sake,  but 
for  hers.  No  selfish  or  sinister  motives  could  be  ascribed 
to  him.  lie  had  by  his  successful  energy  in  arms,  expel- 
led a  formidable  army  of  disciplined  invaders  from  the 
country,  and  broken  forever  the  power  of  a  warlike 
and  sanguinary  tribe  of  savages  who  were  perpetually 
meditating  outrages  and  inflicting  calamities  upon  our 
people;  and  by  affording  a  well-timed  instance  of  retribu- 
tive justice,  in  the  much  agitated  case  of  Arbuthnot  and 
Ambrister,  he  taught  the  incendiaries  of  savage  warfare, 
that  no  matter  to  what  nation  they  might  belong,  they 
should  not,  for  the  future,  expect  to  escape  the  punish- 
ment due  to  their  inhuman  atrocities. 

From  the  formation  of  the  first  British  settlement  on 
this  continent  till  the  overthrow  of  the  Seminoles  by  Jack- 
son, embracing  a  period  of  nearly  two  hundred  years, 
wars  and  massacres  of  the  most  barbarous  and  heart-rend- 
ing description,  had  been,  almost  without  intermission, 
carried  on  by  the  aborigines  against  the  new  occupiers 
of  the  country.  Theorists  may  endeavour  as  much  as 
they  please,  to  justify  the  conduct  of  the  savages,  on  the 
ground  of  their  possessing  a  prior  claim  to  the  soil,  but 
men  of  true  practical  philanthropy,  will  acknowledge 
that  the  occupation  of  the  country  by  a  civilized  race,  has 
extended  the  bounds  of  human  prosperity  and  increased 
the  means  of  social  security  and  enjoyment,  much  beyond 
whatever  they  were  likely  to  attain  under  the  dominion 
of  the  rude  inhabitants  of  the  forest.  If  the  two  races 
could  have  been  blended  into  one  people,  the  one  confer- 
ring the  right  of  soil,  and  the  other  the  advantages  of  civi- 


60  BIOGUAPHY    OF 

lization  to  their  Joint  community,  the  circumstance  would 
no  doubt,  have  been  gratifying  to  the  feelings  of  many, 
because  it  would  have  prevented,  not  only  innumerable 
instances  of  extreme  individual  suffering,  but  the  total  ex- 
termination of  an  ancient,  high-minded  and  once  power- 
ful people.  But  this  was  not  to  be.  The  habits  and 
feelings  of  the  parties  forbade  it ;  and  it  is  now  as  use- 
less to  deplore  the  misfortunes  of  the  vanquished  as  it  is 
ungenerous  to  lament  the  triumphs  of  the  victors. 

At  all  events,  whatever  may  be  the  degree  of  censure  to 
which  the  early  European  settlers  of  the  country — the 
original  intruders  upon  the  soil  of  the  red  men,  are  liable, 
their  descendants,  being  born  in  the  land,  and  placed 
without  any  volition  of  their  own  in  collision  with  its  an- 
cient occupants,  should  not  be  made  partakers  of  it.  The 
white  and  the  red  people  of  America,  in  latter  times, 
being,  with  the  exception  of  immigrants,  equally  natives 
of  the  soil,  have  an  equal  claim  to  its  possession ;  and  if 
the  wars  they  have  waged  have  been  more  fatal  to  the  one 
than  to  the  other,  the  conquerors  are  not  to  be  blamed. 
Each  party  did  its  utmost  for  victory.  That  which  was 
defeated  may  be  commiserated,  but  that  which  triumph- 
ed  should  not,  therefore,  be  condemned.  The  truly  hu- 
mane mind  will  rejoice  that  the  strife  is  now  over.  The 
last  of  the  Indian  wars  has  been  fought,  and  Jackson  had 
the  glory  of  fighting  it.  From  the  Mississippi  to  the 
Atlantic,  from  the  St.  Croix  to  the  Gulph  of  Mexico,  the 
military  power  of  the  red  warriors  has  been  extinguished. 
It  will  no  more  fill  the  extensive  and  fertile  regions  with- 
in those  bounds,  with  terror,  devastation  and  death.  There 
is  surely  consolation  in  this ;  and  to  him  who  brought  it 
1o  pass,  to  him  who  finally  expelled  the  barbarous  wield- 
prs  of  the  tomahawk  and  the  scalping  knife  from  the  land, 


GENEllAL    JACKSON.  61 

honour  and  not  censure  is  assuredly  due.  And  in  dis- 
pite  of  his  enemies  he  has  heen  honored.  Congress 
has  honored  him  by  its  thanks.  The  people  have  hon- 
ored him  by  a  triumphant  election  to  the  chief  magis- 
tracy, and  history  will  teach  posterity  to  honor  him  as 
one  of  the  most  illustrious  benefactors  of  his  country. 

A  man's  enemies  have  been  often  known  to  be  his  ef- 
fective friends.  Jackson's  have  been  so  to  liim.  By 
their  accusations  against  him,  both  in  and  out  of  Congress, 
they  kept  for  a  series  of  years,  the  public  attention  stea- 
dily fixed  upon  him;  and  by  instituting  investigations  into 
his  conduct,  they  made  his  virtues  and  his  talents  more 
known  ;  w^hile  the  spirit  of  persecution  which  they  dis- 
played towards  him,  rendered  him  an  object  of  public 
sympathy  and  affection.  To  these  causes  his  present 
elevation  may  be  chiefly  ascribed.  The  will  of  the  peo- 
ple, in  defiance  of  a  most  powerful,  active  and  rancorous 
opposition,  has  raised  him  to  the  presidency.  They  have 
triumphed  for  him,  and  in  so  doing  they  have  triumph- 
ed for  themselves;  for  he  was  emphatically  their  own 
candidate.  No  organized  body  of  partizans,  no  faction, 
no  caucus,  no  convention,  no  committee  first  nominated 
him  to  them.  A  simple  mechanic  in  a  western  village 
of  Pennsylvania,  in  the  summer  of  1822,  amidst  a  group 
of  his  fellow  villagers,  who  were  discoursing  on  the  ser- 
vices he  had  performed  and  the  persecutions  he  endured, 
exclaimed,  ''  Let  us  have  him  for  our  next  president  and 
show  his  slanderers  that  we  dont  believe  them." 

The  proposal  was  caught  with  enthusiasm  and  assented  to 
with  acclamation.  It  was  soon  in  active  circulation  round 
the  adjacent  country;  for  being  approved  of  by  every 
heart,  it  was  repeated  by  every  tongue.  It  made  its  way 
into  the   newspapers;  the   whole  nation   heard  it;  and 


62  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

millions  who  knew  not  ^vhcnce  the  suggestion  originated, 
responded  to  its  propriety. 

Those  ambitious  politicians  who  were  aiming  at  the 
succession  on  the  expiration  of  Mr.  Munroe's  term,  to- 
gether with  the  whole  host  of  their  dependants  who  were 
already  forming  plans  for  their  elevation,  became  alarmed. 
The  heads  of  dej^artments  looked  upon  this  spontaneous 
nomination  by  the  people,  of  one  not  belonging  to  the 
official  body,  as  an  unprecedented  and  daring  usurpation 
of  their  previleges:  they  imagined  that  the  nation  consi- 
dered the  cabinet  as  a  school  for  the  education  of  presi- 
dents, and  that  a  candidate  properly  qualified  for  that 
high  office,  could  no  where  else  be  found.  Nor  were  those 
busy  spirits  known  by  the  name  of  caucusites,  less  exci- 
ted on  the  occasion.  This  popular  nomination  was  an 
act  of  open  rebellion  against  their  long  exercised  prero- 
gative, and  they  knew  its  success  would  forever  wrest 
the  sceptre  of  dictation  from  their  hands. 

The  members  of  caucuses,  as  well  as  of  cabinets,  are 
always  the  great  men  of  the  day.  It  is  they  who  would 
regulate  the  nation  in  the  choice  of  its  officers.  It  is  they 
who  would  conduct  the  people  in  leading-strings  to  the 
polls  and  teach  them  how  to  vote.  Their  great  object  is 
to  preserve  the  succession  to  office  within  a  privileged  cir- 
cle, over  which  they  of  course,  possess,  or  expect  to  pos- 
sess, an  influence  useful  to  their  own  interests.  Hence 
previously  to  great  elections  they  swell  into  unusual  im- 
portance and  become  exceedingly  zealous  and  active  in 
serving  the  public. 

The  views  and  interests  of  the  caucuses  and  the  cabinets 
being  generally  the  same,  they  naturally  support  each 
other,  and  by  their  joint  influence  at  elections,  seldom  fail 
to  secure  victory,  and  preserve  the  government  within 


GENERAL    JACKSON  63 

their  own  sphere.  In  the  late  election,  however,  they 
were  not  so  fortunate  as  usual.  They  were  opposed  hy 
a  new  and  formidable  power,  that  of  the  people,  rising 
unexpectedly,  and  assuming  the  right  of  nominating  a 
candidate  for  the  presidency  without  regard  to  either 
caucus  or  cabinet.  To  frustrate  such  a  nomination  be- 
came the  great  object  of  their  solicitude,  and  stimulated 
them  to  the  most  vehement  and  unremitting  exertions. 

The  constitution  had  not  forbidden  the  people  to  nomi- 
nate. Their  conduct  could  not,  therfore,  be  called  ille- 
gal. But  being  contrary  to  usage,  it  was  by  the  caucu- 
sites  denounced  as  irregular.  The  people,  however,  ad- 
hered to  it,  and  at  the  election  gave  their  candidate  the 
majority  of  votes.  Impartial  men,  acquainted  with  the 
principles  of  our  institutions,  would  have  thought  that  the 
question  was  now  settled  ;  that  the  national  will,  so  deci- 
sively declared,  would  have  been  carried  into  effect;  and 
that  he  wiiom  the  people  had  chosen,  should  without 
more  difficulty,  have  become  president.  But  politicians 
and  diplomatists — and  the  opponents  of  the  people  were 
both — are  not  easily  overcome  when  they  have  great  in- 
terests at  stake.  In  this  instance  they  were  particularly 
stubborn.  They  were  in  possession  of  power,  and  they 
resolved  to  make  every  exertion  to  retain  it  They  had 
discovered  a  mode  by  which,  with  proper  management, 
this  might  be  done  conformably  to  the  letter,  although 
not  to  the  spirit  of  the  constitution.  With  the  spirit 
of  it,  however,  they  courageously  resolved  to  dispense. 
The  people  were,  in  consequence,  defeated,  and  the  suc- 
cession, as  usual,  retained  in  the  cabinet  by  the  elevation 
of  John  Quincy  Adams. 

The  popular  surprise  and  indignation  at  such  a  result, 
may^  be  easily  conceived.     But  good  sense  dictated  sub- 


64  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

mission  to  a  decision  which,  however  high-handed  and 
insulting  towards  the  nation,  was  sanctioned  by  the  phra- 
seology of  the  constitution.  Jackson  himself  anxiously 
expressed  his  desire  that  his  friends  should  manifest  no 
undue  dissatisfaction  with  what  had  taken  place.  On 
the  20th  of  February  1825,  when  his  coalesced  opponents 
in  Congress  had  decided  the  question  in  favour  of  his 
competitor,  the  General  was  invited  to  a  public  festival 
by  his  friends  at  Washington,  who  wished,  by  this  mark 
of  respect,  to  manifest  the  continuance  of  their  adherence 
to  him,  and  their  disapprobation  of  the  means  by  which 
his  election  had  been  prevented.  With  his  characteris- 
tic magnanimity,  he  displayed,  on  the  trying  occasion, 
the  forbearance  of  a  patriot  and  the  wisdom  of  a  sage. 

^'I  cannot,"  said  he,  in  replying  to  the  invitation,  *^re- 
frain  from  suggesting  to  you  and  my  friends,  the  propri- 
ety, perhaps,  the  necessity  of  forbearing  to  confer  upon 
me,  at  this  moment,  any  such  prominent  marks  of  your 
regard.  You  cannot,  I  am  persuaded,  mistake  my  mean- 
ing.— The  decision  of  a  matter  about  which  much  public 
feeling  and  concern  have  been  manifested,  has  very  lately 
taken  place.  Any  evidence  of  kindness  and  regard,  such 
as  you  propose,  might  by  many  be  viewed  as  carrying 
with  it,  exception,  murmurming  and  feelings  of  com- 
plaint, which  I  sincerely  hope  belong  not  to  any  of  my 
friends.  I  would  therefore  beg  leave  to  suggest  to  you, 
that,  on  reconsideration,  you  may  deem  it  proper  to  for- 
l)ear  any  course  to  which  possibly  exception  might  be 
taken." 

Although  in  deference  to  his  opinion  and  feelings,  the 
friends  of  Jackson  refrained,  on  this  occasion,  from  ma- 
king that  public  display  of  their  indignation  at  tlie  mode 
by  which  Mr.  Adams  was  elected,  yet  circumstances  soon 


GENERAL    JACKSOX. 


65 


transpired  which,  by  working  conviction  on  the  minds  of 
all  reflecting  men,  that  some  under-hand  management  had 
been  at  work,  produced,  in  all  parts  of  the  union,  not  on- 
ly murmurs,  but  direct  accusations  against  the  success- 
ful party,  for  disposing  of  the  presidency  by  conspiracy 
and  corruption.  Mr.  Clay,  the  speaker  of  the  house  of 
representatives,  who  had  been  one  of  the  candidates  before 
the  people,  but  had  not  received  a  sufficient  number  oj 
electoral  votes  to  bring  him  as  a  candidate  before  congress, 
was  considered  the  chief  manager  of  this  intrigue.  He 
had  been  for  years,  the  bitter  and  avowed  enemy  of  Mr. 
Adams — he  had  been  instructed  by  the  state  which  he  re- 
presented, to  support  the  election  of  General  Jackson — and 
to  instruction  of  this  nature,  he  had  long  and  publicly 
professed  that  it  was  one  of  the  most  binding  articles  of 
his  political  creed,  to  yield  obedience — yet  he  not  only 
gave  his  own  vote  for  Mr.  Adams,  but  successfully  ex- 
erted his  influence  in  the  house  to  obtain  for  him  a  num- 
ber of  votes  sufficient  to  secure  his  election,  which,  after  all, 
was  accomplished  by  the  majority  of  one  state  only.  As 
soon  as  Mr.  Adams  was  installed,  Mr.  Clay  received  his 
reward.  He  was  made  Secretary  of  State,  and  was  conse- 
quently placed  in  the  path  which  had  hitherto  been  the 
direct  road  to  the  presidency. 

It  was  not  in  the  nature  of  things  that  these  scenes  could 
be  viewed  without  distrust  and  dissatisfaction.  The  peo- 
ple, however,  knew  that  at  the  end  of  four  years  they 
would  have  an  opportunity  of  manifesting  their  disappro- 
bation by  expelling  such  intruders  from  their  ill-got  pow- 
er. They  announced  Jackson  again  as  their  candidate; 
and  took  such  measures  as  impressed  all  ambitious  aspirants 
with  the  feeling  that  it  would  be  in  vain  nay,  that  it  would 
be  ruinous  to  their  own  future  prospects  to   become  hig 

9 


66 


BIOGnAPHY    OF 


competitors.  The  incumbent  president  alone  entered  the ' 
lists,  and  aspired  to  a  re-election.  But  it  is  evident  from 
the  whole  history  of  the  contest  which  ensued,  that  both 
he  and  his  friends  founded  their  hopes  of  success  more  upon 
a  dexterous  application  of  official  influence,  than  upon  the 
popularity  of  their  cause.  Various  appointments  were  made 
with  this  view.  Patronage  was  afforded  to  venal  editors, 
of  newspapers  in  every  part  of  the  Union.  These  com- 
menced upon  the  character  of  Jackson  a  system  of  calum- 
ny and  abuse,  which  for  coarseness  and  virulence,  has,  per- 
haps, never  had  a  parallel  in  any  age  or  country.  The 
ficurrillity  of  common  scolds,  and  the  ribaldry  of  Billings- 
gate, were  absolute  politeness  to  it.  To  these  was  added 
a  novel  mode  of  electioneering  still  more  disgusting,  the 
distribution  of  infamous  pictures  and  barbarous  hiero- 
glyphics, intended  to  represent  General  Jackson  as  a  mon- 
ster of  depravity  and  inhumanity.  Even  the  more  respec- 
table leaders  of  the  party,  joined  in  the  hue  and  cry  raised 
against  him.  .Mr.  Clay  himself  in  his  over-anxious  ea- 
gerness to  blast  the  character  of  the  formidable  rival  of 
the  president  he  had  made,  and  the  chief  obstacle  to  his 
own  future  elevation,  could  not  refrain  from  entering  the 
arena  of  contest.  He  perambulated  the  country,  and,  in 
utter  forgetfulness  of  what  was  due  to  his  own  dignity, 
pronounced  electioneering  harrangues  in  which  he  de- 
nounced General  Jackson  as  a  "mere  military  chieftain," 
and  declared  that  rather  than  see  him  president  of  the 
country,  he  would  choose  to  see  it  visited  by  all  the 
*<  horrors  of  war,  pestilence  and  famine." 

Not  content  with  depicting  the  character  ol  Jackson  as 
monstrous  for  depravity  and  violence,  his  enemies  assert- 
ed that  his  talents  and  his  education  were  of  the  meanest 
order;  and  that  the  presidency  would  be  disgraced  both 


GENERAL    JCKSON.  C7 

by  his  immoralities  and  his  ignorance,  while  the  liberties 
of  the  country  could  never  survive  the  military  ascenden- 
cy which  would  inevitably  follow  his  election.  Nay,  so  far 
did  the  spirit  of  defamation  carry  the  vile  flatterers  of  the 
existing  powers,  that  they  penetrated  into  the  sanctuary 
of  his  domestic  circle,  in  search  of  subjects  for  calumny, 
and  his  virtuous  and  amiable  wife  had  her  feelings  lacera- 
ted by  their  brutal  slanders.  She  is  now  gone  to  a  world 
more  congenial  with  the  purity  of  her  principles  and  con- 
duct, where  the  repose  of  her  meek  and  benevolent  spirit 
"will  not  be  disturbed  by  falsehood  and  detraction.  It  is 
consoling,  however,  to  reflect  that  she  remained  long 
enough  here,  to  learn  that  her  fame  was  cleared  from  all 
imputation,  and  that  the  merit  and  services  of  her  husband, 
were  acknow^ledged  and  rewarded,  by  the  acclaiming  voice 
of  millions  of  his  countrymen. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  friends  of  General 
Jackson  listened  in  silence  to  all  this  torrent  of  vitupe- 
ration, or  that  they  made  no  exertions  in  defence  of 
his  character.  It  is  true  that  he  himself,  with  a  truly 
laudable  delicacy,  withdrew  as  much  as  possible  from  pub- 
lic view.  He  w^as  conscious  that  his  cause  was  much 
more  emphatically  that  of  the  people  than  his  own,  and 
that  they  wxre  able  and  resolved  to  maintain  it.  Obtru- 
ding himself  on  the  public,  as  the  over-anxiety  of  his 
competitors  caused  them,  greatly  to  their  disadvantage, 
frequently  to  do,  he  was  aware  could  not,  under  the  pecu- 
liar circumstances  of  the  times,  in  any  manner  serve  either 
himself  or  his  friends.  He  prudently,  therefore,  as  soon 
as  he  ascertained  that  the  people  had  the  second  time  cho- 
sen him  for  their  candidate,  resigned  his  seat  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  and  retired  to  his  dwelling  on 
the  banks  of  the  Cumberland.     There,  in  the  enjoyment 


68  BIOGRAPHY    OP 

of  domestic  comfort  and  rural  occupations,  he  heard  at  a  dis- 
tance the  raging  of  the  political  storm  which  for  more  than 
two  years  agitated  the  whole  Union  with  unexampled  vio- 
lence, and  subsided  only  when  it  had  overthrown  the  powxr 
of  his  opponents,  and  placed  him  in  their  stead.  He  was  not, 
it  is  true,  indifferent  to  the  progress  of  the  contest.  He  would 
have  been  neither  a  patriot  nor  a  man,  had  he  been  so.  But 
he  had  full  confidence  in  the  power  and  steadiness  of  the 
people,  and  in  the  zeal  and  discretion  of  those  who  directed 
their  efforts.  Nor  was  he  deceived.  Every  charge  against 
him  was  triumphantly  refuted,  and  every  calumny  effec- 
tually exposed,  until  the  generous  indignation  of  the  peo- 
ple was  aroused  to  such  enthusiasm,  that  when  the  day  of 
decision  arrived,  they  rushed  to  the  polls  in  overwhelm- 
ing numbers,  sweeping  away  opposition,  and  covering  the 
discomfited  calumniators  with  shame  and  confusion. 

To  enter  here  upon  a  formal  vindication  of  Jackson's 
conduct  and  character  would  oblige  us  to  exceed  the  limits 
assigned  to  this  publication.  Besides  it  is  now  unneces- 
sary. The  voice  of  the  nation  has  vindicated  him;  and 
many  who  were  but  lately  his  loudest  accusers,  have  be- 
come, since  his  star  has  assumed  the  ascendant,  his  zeal- 
ous panegyrists.  It  is  wonderful  how  suddenly  the  eyes 
of  some  men  become  opened  to  the  discovery  of  the  vir- 
tues, talents  and  services  of  those  on  whose  behalf  they 
perceive  the  current  of  prosperity  to  flow,  although  in 
different  circumstances,  they  could  see  in  them  nothing 
but  what  was  w^orthy  of  censure  and  condemnation.  That 
man,  who,  while  he  was  only  a  farmer  in  Tennessee,  de- 
stitute of  power  and  patronage,  was  characterized  as  fe- 
rocious, arbitrary,  rash,  ignorant,  and  entirely  devoid  of 
every  qualification  that  might  fit  him  for  the  duties  of  civil 
government,  is  now,  since  he  has  been  chosen  President 


GENERAL    JACKSON  69 

of  the  United  States,  admitted  by  numbers  of  his  late  de- 
famers  to  be  well  qualified  for  that  high  office.  There  is 
now,  it  is  believed,  no  man  in  the  country  who  would  pre- 
fer seeing  it  desolated  by  ^^war,  pestilence  and  famine, "to 
seeing  him  in  the  presidency;  nor  is  it  believed  that  there 
is  one  who  considers  him  a  monster  of  barbarity,  *^  capa- 
ble," to  use  the  language  of  some  of  his  traducers,  '^of 
looking  upon  blood  and  carnage  with  composure,  if  not 
enjoyment,  and  of  catching  at  every  opportunity  to  shed 
American  blood  without  any  authority  but  that  of  arbi- 
trary power.  "  It  is  now  acknowledged  that  he  is  hu- 
mane, and  that  on  all  occasions  he  has  shown  a  tender- 
ness for  the  lives,  not  only  of  his  own  men,  but  of  his 
enemies,  when  he  could  do  so,  consistently  with  his  du- 
ty. When  he  had,  on  the  plains  of  New  Orleans,  defeat- 
ed the  most  gallant  army  of  invaders  that  ever  landed  in 
America,  and  his  own  troops,  scarcely  injured,  wished, 
in  the  excitement  of  victory,  to  pursue  wuth  slaughter  the 
fugitives  of  the  panic-struck  enemy,  his  humanity  for- 
bade them;  he  checked  their  ardour  for  unnecessary  re- 
venge, and  thereby  prevented  the  destruction  of  innume- 
rable lives,  although  he  incurred  the  momentary  displea- 
sure of  his  troops  for  his  forbearance. 

When  he  marched  against  the  ruthless  Indians,  who 
never  gave  quarter,  instead  of  permitting  his  troops  to 
yield  to  the  impulse  of  retaliation,  he  thus  in  his  general 
orders,  inculcated  upon  them  the  true  principles  of  hu- 
manity. 

^'  How  shall  a  war,"  said  he,  ^^so  long  forborne,  and  so 
loudly  called  for  by  retributive  justice  be  waged?  Shall 
we  imitate  the  example  of  our  enemies,  in  the  disorder  of 
their  movements  and  the  savageness  of  their  dispositions? 
Is  it  worthy  of  the  character  of  American  soldiers,  who 


70  BIOGRAPHY  OF 

take  arms  to  redress  the  wrongs  of  an  injured  country,  to 
assume  no  better  model  than  that  furnished  them  by  bar- 
barians ? — No  !  fellow  soldiers — great  as  are  the  grievan- 
ces that  have  called  us  from  our  homes,  we  must  not  per- 
mit disorderly  passions  to  tarnish  the  reputation  we  shall 
carry  along  with  us ;  we  must  and  will  be  victorious — 
but  we  must  conquer  as  men  who  owe  nothing  to  chance, 
and  w^ho,  in  the  midst  of  victory,  can  still  be  mindful  of 
what  is  due  to  humanity." 

In  relation  to  that  fruitful  theme  of  defamation  against 
General  Jackson,  his  conduct  at  New  Orleans,  which  has 
in  reality  formed  for  him  an  imperishable  wreath  of  fame, 
and  added  to  his  country's  glory,  it  will  be  sufficient  for 
his  vindication  to  lay  before  the  reader  the  following  re- 
solutions of  Congress  on  the  subject,  adopted  in  February 
1815. 

Resolved^  By  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the. thanks  of  Con- 
gress be,  and  they  are  hereby  given  to  Majou  Gen.  Jackson-,  and 
through  him,  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  regular  army,  of  the 
volunteers,  and  of  the  militia  under  his  command,  the  greater  propor- 
tion of  which  troops  consisted  of  militia  and  volunteers,  suddenly  col- 
lected together,  for  their  uniforin  gallantry  and  good  conduct,  con- 
spicuously displayed  against  the  enemy,  fhom  the  time  of  his  land- 
ing   BEFORE    NEW   ORLEANS,  UNTIL    HIS    FINAL    EXPULSION    THEREFROM; 

and  particularly  for  their  valors  skill  and  good  conduct  on  tlie  eighth  of 
January  last,  in  repulsing,  with  great  slaughter  a  numerous  British 
army  of  chosen  veteran  troops,  when  attempting,  by  a  bold  and  daring 
attack  to  cany  by  storm,  the  works  hastily  thrown  up  for  the  protec- 
tion of  New  Orleans ;  and  thereby  obtaining  a  most  signal  victory  over 
the  enemy  with  a  desparity  of  loss,  on  his  part,  unexampled  in  mili- 
tary ANNALS. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be  requested  to 
cause  to  be  struck,  a  gold  medal,  with  devices  emblematical  of  this 
splendid  athievement,  and  presented  to  Major  General  Jackson  as  a 
testimony  of  the  high  sense  entertained  hy  Congress  of  his  judicious 
and  distinguished  conduct  07i  that  memorable  occasion. 

"  Resolvedt  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be  requested  to 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  71 

cause  the  foreg-olng  resolutions  to  be  communicateil  to  maj.  oENEnAt. 
jACKsox,  ill  sucli  terms  as  he  may  deem  best  calculated  to  give  eftect 
to  the  objects  thereof." 

In  reply  to  tlie  allegiations  that  General  Jackson  was  a 
mere  military  chieftain,  unversed  in  classical  learning, 
and  destitute  of  experience  in  civil  affairs,  his  friends 
could  triumphantly  produce  the  example  of  Washington 
to  prove  that,  even  if  these  charges  were  true,  they  did 
not  constitute  any  absolute  disqualification  for  the  office 
of  president.  Washington  was  the  military  hero  of  his 
day,  without  pretensions  to  classical  learning;  and  that  he 
had  no  experience  in  the  management  of  civil  affairs,  he 
himself  acknowledges  in  his  address  on  taking  the  oath 
of  office  at  his  inauguration  into  the  presidency  in  April, 
1789. — <^  The  magnitude  and  difficulty  of  the  trust,''  said 
he  on  that  occasion,  '^to  which  the  voice  of  my  country 
has  called  me,  being  sufficient  to  awaken  in  the  wisest 
and  most  experienced  of  her  citizens,  a  distrustful  scru- 
tiny into  his  qualifications,  could  not  but  overwhelm  with 
despondence,  one  who,  inheriting  inferior  endowments 
from  nature,  and  unpractised  in  the  duties  of  civil  ad- 
viinistration,  ought  to  be  peculiarly  conscious  of  his  own 
deficiencies." 

This  was  the  avowal  of  him  who  was  the  first  and  best 
of  our  presidents;  whose  administration,  military  chief- 
tain, unskilled  in  collegiate  learning,  and  unpractised  in 
civil  government,  as  he  was,  proved  a  blessing  to  the 
country,  and  obtained  the  entire  approbation  and  grati- 
tude of  the  people. 

But  the  friends  of  General  Jackson  were  not  obliged  to 
rest  their  defence  of  his  qualifications  on  the  production  of 
this  illustrious  example  alone;  they  could  prove  each  of 
these  charges,  with  the  exception  of  that  of  his  having 


72  BIOGRAPHy    OP 

been  a  military  chieftain,  to  be  untrue,  and  as  that  charge 
implied  neither  dishonor  nor  incapacity,  they  admitted  it 
freely  and  with  satisfaction.  The  committee  of  corres- 
pondence who  supported  his  cause  in  Philadelphia,  in 
their  fifth  letter  in  reply  to  the  authors  of  a  pamphlet  in 
which  all  these  charges  are  collected  and  enforced,  make 
the  following  statement : — 

''  You  perceive,  gentlemen,  that  experience  proves  the 
fallacy  of  your  doctrine  of  succession,  that  no  one  should 
be  president,  who  had  not  been  in  the  political  ministry  : 
and  we  now  proceed  to  show  that  General  Jackson  has 
other  qualifications,  besides  those  of  a  military  kind. 

^'  1.  General  Jackson  received  a  classical  education: 
was  this  no  advantage?  some  of  your  associates  think  it 
an  indispensable  requisite,  for  public  trust  or  private  sta- 
tion. 

*'  2.  He  had,  like  Franklin,  to  establish  his  name,  with- 
out the  patronage  of  a  single  relative  or  friend;  if  he  had 
not  talents  and  virtues,  would  he  not  have  remained  in 
obscurity?  could  he  have  arrived  at  his  present  celebrity 
without  them  ?  how  many  in  half  a  century  have  risen 
over  all  impediments  as  he  has  done?  how  many  of  his 
assailants  could  imitate  his  example? 

*'  3.  In  his  20th  year,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and 
leaving  his  native  state.  South  Carolina,  went  to  Nash- 
ville, to  establish  a  character,  and  earn  an  independence 
amongst  strangers.  Did  this  not  evince  strength  of  mind 
and  talents. 

"  4.  Such  was  the  reputation  which  he  established,  that, 
upon  the  organization  of  the  territory  of  the  United 
States  south  of  the  Ohio,  (now  called  Tennessee)  in  May, 
1790,  Washingtoji  appointed  him  district  attorney,  a  sta- 
tion which  Andrew  Jackson  held  until  elected  to  serve  in 
1796,  in  the  convention  for  forming  a  constitution  for 
Tennessee:  Was  this  no  proof  of  fitness  for  civil  trusts? 

*'  5.  In  his  30th  year  he  was  chosen  a  member  of 
the  convention  for  forming  a  constitution  for  Tennessee: 
what  stronger  token  could  a  people  give  of  their  sense  of 
his  integrity  and  abilities  ? 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  T3 

'*  6.  At  the  samo  acje  he  was  elected  a  memher  of  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States;  was  not  this  an  evidence  of 
good  character  and  qualifications  for  civil  stations? 

*^7.  In  his  31st  year,  he  was  elected  to  represent  Ten- 
nessee in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  the  most  distin- 
guished body  of  this,  or  perhaps  any  country:  what  could 
more  clearly  show  a  fitness  for  high  trusts? 

"S.  The  next  station  which  he  filled  was  that  of  Judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Tennessee:  he  held  it  for  seve- 
ral years:  did  this  evince  no  civil  qualifications? 

<^9,  Having  acquired  a  moderate  estate,  he  retired 
from  public  life,  and  became  a  Tennessee  farmer:  what  a 
contrast  with  his  rival ! 

<'10.  When  Congress  authorised  the  employment  of 
volunteers  to  defend  their  country,  in  the  last  war,  An- 
drew Jackson  left  his  farm  and  appealed  to  his  neigh- 
bours and  countrymen;  2500  of  them  placed  themselves 
at  his  disposal:  what  stronger  proof  of  his  patriotism — 
what  higher  evidence  of  the  attachment  of  his  country- 
men, need  be  given? 

*'  11.  After  he  had  vanquished  the  confederated  Indi- 
ans, and  their  more  savage  allies,  he  concluded  several 
important  treaties  with  the  former,  under  the  direction 
of  government,  not  only  to  its  satisfaction,  but  in  a  man- 
ner that  commanded  the  gratitude  of  the  conquered 
tribes: — are  these  no  tokens  of  merit? 

'M2.  He  was  appointed  governor  of  Florida,  a  station 
requiring  the  exercise  of  civil  as  well  as  military  qualifi- 
cations: was  not  this  a  proof  that  he  possessed  them? 

««13.  He  was  offered,  by  Mr.  Monroe,  a  seat  in  the 
Cabinet,  as  Secretary  at  War;  but  he  declined  it:  was 
this  no  evidence  of  his  talents — no  proof  of  his  being  free 
from  selfish  or  ambitious  views? 

<^  14.  Mr.  Monroe  asked  him  to  proceed  to  Mexico, 
as  Ambassador  of  the  United  States : — was  this  no  proof 
of  his  having  the  qualifications  of  a  statesman?  he  refused 
to  accept  the  station,  because  he  thought  this  republic 
ought  not  to  sanction  the  military  usurpation  of  Iturbide, 
by  sending  a  minister  to  his  court :  was  this  such  con- 
duct as  would  distinguish  a  man,  disposed  to  become, 
himself,  an  usurper? 

10 


74  BIOGRAPHY    OF 

With  these  facts  before  their  eyes,  and  conscious  that 
the  preservation  of  their  own  supremacy  in  creating  the 
chief  magistrate,  greatly  depended  on  the  issue  of  the 
contest,  the  people  of  the  United  States  aroused  them- 
selves vigorously  to  the  struggle,  and  by  a  majority  of 
votes  unexampled  in  the  annals  of  contested  elections, 
overthrew  all  the  forces  that  official  influence  could 
bring  against  them;  made  their  own  president,  and  fixed 
the  fair  fabric  of  their  own  power  on  foundations  too  firm 
to  fear  any  thing,  for  the  time  to  come,  from  the  assaults 
of  any  combination  whatever  of  ambitious  statesmen  with 
mercenary  demagogues. 

For  the  satisfaction  of  the  reader  the  following  authen- 
tic statement  of  the  votes  given  in  the  several  states  for 
each  of  the  candidates,  is  inserted.  The  state  of  South 
Carolina,  having  voted  by  legislature,  and  the  popular 
vote  given  at  the  election  of  that  body  not  being  ascertain- 
ed, and  if  ascertained,  might  not  be  considered  an  accu- 
rate exhibition  of  the  strength  of  the  presidential  com- 
petitors, that  state  is  necessarily  excluded  from  the  ac- 
count. It  is  well  known,  however,  that  the  Jackson 
party  there  exceeded  that  of  their  antagonists  by  an  im- 
mense majority.  To  assume  the  number  of  twenty 
thousand  as  that  majority  will  not  be  to  overrate  it. 
The  state  of  Delaware  also  voted  by  legislature ;  but  it 
being  a  small  state,  the  strength  of  the  parties  may  be 
ascertained  with  tolerable  accuracy,  by  the  late  election 
held  in  it,  for  members  of  Congress.  It  is  therefore  in- 
cluded in  the  following  statement. 

States*  Jackson,  Adams.  Total. 

Maine,  13927  20773  34700 

New-Hampshire,  20692  34006  44698 

Massachusetts,  6019  29836  35855 


GENERAL    JACKSON. 


75 


Rhode  Island, 

695 

2548 

3243 

Connecticut, 

4486 

13343 

17829 

Vermont, 

8353 

24363 

32716 

New-York, 

140763 

135412 

276175 

New-Jersey, 

21929 

23758 

45687 

Pennsylvania, 

101652 

50848 

152500 

Delaware, 

4349 

4769 

9118 

IVIaryland, 

24565 

25527 

50092 

Virginia, 

26752 

12101 

3SS53 

North  Carolina, 

37857 

13918 

51775 

Georgia, 

19362 

642 

20004 

Kentucky, 

39071 

31167 

70238 

Ohio, 

67597 

63395 

130992 

Indiana, 

22237 

17052 

39289 

Illinois, 

9560 

4659 

14219 

Louisiana, 

4603 

4076 

8679 

Tennessee, 

44293 

2240 

46533 

Missouri, 

8272 

3400 

11672 

Alabama, 

13384 

1629 

15013 

640518 

509462 

1149980 

509402 

Jackson's  maj'ty.   131056 

By  adding  to  this  majority  the  twenty  thousand  assum- 
ed for  South  Carolina,  we  shall  have  the  magnificent 
number  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  one  thousand  and 
FIFTY  SIX  votes  for  the  national  majority.  In  the 
electoral  colleges  the  majority  was  more  than  two  to  one, 

the  votes  being 

For  Jackson  178 
Adams     83 

Jackson's  majority    95 

It  is  to  this  decisive  expression  of  the  voice  of  the 
nation  that  we  are  chiefly  to  attribute  the  sudden  and  en- 
tire cessation,  which  took  place  immediately  after  the 
election,  of  that  clamorous  and  abusive  hostility  against 


tC)  BIOGllArHY    OF 

the  character  and  conduct  of  General  Jackson  which  had 
so  long  agitated  and  disgraced  the  country.  It  might 
have  been  supposed  that  the  passions  of  men  excited  into 
fury  by  such  a  storm  of  violent  controversy,  could  not  for 
a  long  time  have  ceased  to  feel  its  impulse ;  that  they 
should  subside  all  at  once,  as  they  have  done,  into  the 
tranquillity  of  a  perfect  calm,  was  certainly  not  to  be  ex- 
pected. It  must  have  been  the  work  of  some  mighty 
influence,  and  what  influence  short  of  a  supernatural 
one,  could  have  been  more  mighty  than  the  tremendous 
majority  which  has  flashed  conviction,  far  and  wide, 
wherever  there  existed  any  doubt  on  the  subject,  that  the 
friends  of  Jackson  were  right  and  that  his  enemies  w^ere 
wrong. 

This  cessation  of  hostility,  indeed,  was  a  mark  of  res- 
pect which  so  unequivocal  a  manifestation  of  the  national 
will  had  a  right  to  command  ;  and  having  yielded  it  is 
no  discredit  to  the  defeated  party.  Such  of  them  as  have 
become  convinced  of  their  error,  ought  to  feel  no  degra- 
dation in  acknowledging  their  conviction.  They  have 
now  obtained  proof  sufficient  that  the  feelings  which  in- 
duced their  opposition  must  have  arisen  from  either  er- 
roneous information  or  groundless  prejudices.  The  prin- 
cipal opposition  existed  in  New  England,  where,  from 
their  local  situation,  the  inhabitants  had  fewer  opportuni- 
ties of  knowing  the  real  merit  of  Jackson's  character  and 
conduct  than  those  of  other  parts  of  the  Union;  and  where 
local  considerations,  creating  a  partiality  for  his  compe- 
titor, occasioned  the  tales  of  falsehood  and  slander  to  find 
a  more  ready  reception  than  they  did  elsewhere.  But 
the  New  Englandcrs  are  a  shrewd  and  reflecting  people; 
and  the  circumstance  of  the  w^hole  of  the  Southern  and 
Western  States,  where  Jackson  was  well  known,  giving 


GENERAL    JACKSON 


77 


him  their  entire  vote,  cannot  have  escaped  their  notice, 
nor  failed  to  have  made  on  their  sentiments  a  due  impres- 
sion in  his  favour.     They  have  heheld  every  state  south 
or  west  of  Delaware,  with  the  exception  of  Maryland 
which  was  divided,  and  every  large  commercial  city  in 
the  Union,  except  Boston,  declare  for  Jackson.     Is  not 
this  enough  to  shake  the  faith  of  the  sagacious  New  En- 
glanders  in  the  statements  which  interested  politicians 
had  so  industriously  circulated  amongst  them,  of  Jack- 
son's utter  unworthiness  and  incapacity.     Can  they  be- 
lieve that  the  man  in  whose  favour  such  numbers  of  up- 
right and  intelligent  men,  who  could  not  be  mistaken  in 
his  character,  have  declared,  is  that  ignorant  monster  of 
iniquity  which  their  pamphleteers,  editors  and  orators, 
represented  him  to  be?    Must  it  not  be  evidenfto  them 
that  the  statements  of  these  declaimers  and  publishers 
were  vile  libels,  intended  to  lead  them  astray,  and  excite 
their  abhorrence  towards  an  illustrious  and  venerable  pa- 
triot whom  so  many  disinterested  thousands  who  knew 
him  well  and  could  judge  of  him  impartially,  have  thought 
worthy  of  raising  to  an  office,  to  which  they  would  never 
have  raised  a  man  either  corrupt  or  incapable? 

These  considerations  have  had,  no  doubt,  much  influ- 
ence in  producing  that  acquiescence,  which  has  been  so 
remarkably  sudden  and  universal,  of  the  adversaries  of 
General  Jackson,  in  his  elevation.  But  there  is  another 
circumstance  to  which,  we  believe,  we  may  justly  attri- 
bute the  total  absence  of  murmuring,  with  the  occasional 
whispering  of  some  satisfaction  at  the  event,  among  many 
who  were  the  General's  most  active  and  bitter  revilers— 
we  mean  the  insincerity  of  the  dislike  they  professed. 
In  their  great  eagerness  to  serve,  or  at  least  to  please  the 
authorities  in  whose  cause  they  had  embarked,  these  men 


78 


BIOGRAPHY    OF 


whos.e  trade  is  political  gladiatorship,  and  party  brawling, 
circulated  defamatory  stories,  one  word  of  which  they  them- 
selves did  not  believe.  As  for  the  inventors  of  such  stories, 
they  are  the  vilest  of  the  vile:  if  they  can  procure  the  for- 
giveness of  their  own  consciences,  that  of  the  friends  of 
Jackson  will  be  easily  obtained.  Contempt,  and  not  resent- 
ment, is  the  feeling  which  magnanimity  indulges  towards 
a  fallen  although  unprincipled  enemy,  who  has  been  pro- 
strated by  his  own  efforts  to  do  mischief. 

We  have  thus  taken  a  very  cursory  view  of  the  late  poli- 
tical contest,  the  result  of  which,  we  trust,  has  settled  for  a 
long  period  to  come,  the  question  whether  the  people  or  their 
rulers  are,  in  this  country,  the  real  source  of  power.  Had 
Mr.  Adams  been  re-elected,  not  only  would  the  anxious 
wishes  of  the  nation  have  been  a  second  time  defeated, 
but  the  oligarchical  system  of  cabinet  succession  would, 
in  all  likelihood,  have  become  so  strengthened  and  con- 
firmed, as  for  ever  to  render  all  constitutional  attempts,  on 
the  part  of  the  people,  to  overturn  it  and  regain  the  pro- 
per exercise  of  their  own  righfs,  unavailing.  The  power 
of  appointing  his  successor  would  have  become  virtually 
lodged  in  the  hands  of  the  president;  for  the  machinery 
for  securing  the  election  of  some  one  of  the  secretaries, 
w^ould  have  attained  such  perfection,  that  it  is  to  be  fear- 
ed nothing  short  of  civil  war  could  have  broken  it  down, 
and  restored  the  republic  to  the  practice  of  its  legitimate 
principles.  But  the  danger  is  now  over.  The  battle  has  been 
fought  with  desperation  and  defeat  on  one  side,  and  w^ith 
zeal  and  victory  on  the  other.  Its  influence  on  the  per- 
manency of  our  institutions  will  be  long  and  happily  felt. 
It  will  deter  the  possessors  of  power  from  relying  too 
much  upon  official  influence  in  their  efforts  to  retain  their 
authority  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  people.      <<  With 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  79 

the  patronage  of  office,  properly  directed."  said  a  con- 
spicuous secretary  of  the  present  day,  ''  no  man  in  power 
need  be  afraid  of  losing  his  election.  A  vigilent  and  ju- 
dicious application  of  the  right  means  will  interest  the 
feelings  or  the  cupidity  of  the  leaders  of  the  people,  and 
then  all  will  be  safe."  These  may  not  be  exactly  the 
words  of  the  secretary;  but  the  sentiment  is  the  same  as 
that  which  went  the  rounds  of  the  newspapers,  last  sum- 
mer, as  his;  and  that  he  uttered  it,  we  have  never  known  to 
be  disputed.  This  gentleman  has,  however,  since  found 
that  the  elective  franchise  of  Americans  is  not  so  entirely 
under  the  control  of  political  management,  as  this  senti- 
ment supposes.  He  has  found  that  there  are  more  inde- 
pendence of  thought,  and  more  purity  of  conduct,  among 
the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  than  he  imagined.  He 
has  found  that  the  pliable  representatives  of  Missouri,  Il- 
linois, and  a  few  other  of  the  small  states,  who  voted  at 
his  command  four  years  ago,  were  not  the  representatives 
of  American  integrity  and  patriotism.  No  doubt  he  and 
all  his  party  are  much  mortified  at  the  discovery.  But 
they  have  gained  information.  They  have  acquired  a 
more  correct  knowledge  of  the  national  character;  a  know- 
ledge by  which  some  of  them  may  yet  be  benefitted.  At 
all  events  the  shock  of  their  downfall  has  elicited  a  light 
which  will  long  serve  to  direct  future  statesmen  on  the 
proper  path  of  political  integrity.  It  will  show  them 
that  a  studious  regard  to  the  rights  of  the  people  in  pre- 
ference to  their  own  personal  aggrandizement,  and  a  strict 
attention  to  the  interests  of  the  nation,  rather  than  to  the 
continusyice  of  their  own  power,  are  the  best,  and  only 
sure  means  of  securing  a  valuable  reputation  and  perma- 
nent honour. 


80  BIOGRAPHY    OP 

The  sentiments  expressed  on  this  subject,  by  that  able 
and  patriotic  statesman,  the  present  governor  of  New 
York,  in  his  late  message  to  the  Senate  and  Assembly  of 
that  state,  are  so  entirely  in  accordance  with  our  own, 
and  exhibit  the  issue  of  the  great  contest,  in  a  point  of 
view  so  lucid  and  correct,  that  we  cannot  refrain  from 
laying  them  before  our  readers. 

"  Of  that  great  struggle,  it  may  truly  be  said  that  if  it 
brought  with  it  much  to  regret,  it  has  also  afforded  sub- 
jects for  congratulation,  without  reference  to  its  particular 
result.  Ours  is  the  only  nation  in  the  world  which  can 
fairly  be  said  to  enjoy  the  high  privilege  of  selecting  its 
chief  magistrate  by  the  unbiassed  choice  of  its  citizens. 
That  the  exercise  of  a  right  so  interesting  in  its  character, 
and  so  important  in  its  results,  would  disturb  the  body 
politic  in  all  its  relations,  was  to  have  been  anticipated, 
and  in  the  present  instance,  has  been  fairly  realized.  It 
is  certainly  true,  that  the  reputation  of  the  country  has  in 
some  degree  suffered  from  the  uncharitable  and  unrelent- 
ing scrutiny  to  which  private  as  well  as  public  character 
has  been  subjected.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  injury 
produced  by  this  discreditable  exhibition  has  been  relieved, 
if  not  removed,  by  seeing  how  soon  the  overflowing  wa- 
ters of  bitterness  have  spent  themselves,  and  already  the 
current  of  public  feeling  has  resumed  its  accustomed  chan- 
nels. These  excesses  are  the  price  we  pay  for  that  full 
enjoyment  of  the  right  of  opinion,  which  is  emphatically 
the  birthright  of  an  American  citizen.  It  is  with  perfect 
deference  to  that  sacred  privelege,  and  in  the  humble 
exercise  of  that  portion  of  it  which  belongs  to  myself — 
with  a  sincere  desire  not  to  offend  the  feeling  of  those 
whose  views  in  this  respect  differ  from  my  own — that  I 
beg  leave  to  congratulate  you,  and  t);irough  you,  our  con- 
stituents, on  the  result  of  the  late  election  for  President 
and  vice-President  of  the  United  States:  a  result  which 
while  it  infuses  fresh  vigor  into  our  political  system,  and 
adds  new  beauties  to  the  Republican  character,  oneemore 
refutes  the  odious  imputation  tliat  republics  are  ungrate- 
ful: dissipates  the  vain  hope  that  our  citizens  can  be  in 


GENERAL    JACKSON.  81 

fluenced  by  aught,  save  appeals  to  their  understanding  and 
love  of  country;  and  finally,  exhibits  in  bold  relief,  the 
omnipotence  of  public  opinion,  and  the  futility  of  all 
attempts  to  overawe  it  by  the  denunciations  of  power,  or 
to  seduce  it  by  the  allurements  of  patronage. " 

As  America,  with  the  exception  of  Washington,  has 
produced  no  individual  to  whom  she  is  more  indebted  than 
the  illustrious  subject  of  this  publication,  so  with  the  same 
exception,  there  has  yet  appeared  none  whom  she  is  more 
inclined  to  honor.  Innumerable  are  the  testimonies  of 
that  grateful  respect,  so  strongly  felt  and  widely  spread, 
wrhich  he  has  received,  and  is  daily  receiving,  from  both 
public  bodies  and  private  individuals.  These  manifesta- 
tions of  the  national  esteem  and  gratitude,  are  to  be 
considered  valuable  as  rescuing  the  country  from  the 
disgrace  which  the  conduct  of  his  traducers  would  have 
brought  upon  it.  They  were  to  him  a  shield  against  the 
shafts  of  calumny;  and  afforded  him  ample  consolation 
for  the  most  rancorous  vituperation  he  had  to  endure. 
Our  limits  will  not  permit  us  to  indulge  in  even  a  brief 
notice  of  particular  instances  of  those  honorable  demon- 
strations of  the  popular  sentiment  towards  him.  We 
cannot,  however,  refrain  from  observing  that  the  Eighth 
of  January,  the  anniversary  of  his  victory  at  New  Orleans, 
has,  next  to  the  Fourth  of  July,  become  the  most  impor- 
tant and  universally  celebrated,  of  our  national  festivals. 
Jackson  has  enjoyed  the  rare  felicity  of  receiving,  on  the 
day  of  this  festival,  in  the  city,  to  commemorate  his  pre- 
servation of  which,  it  is  instituted,  the  most  gratifying 
tokens  of  gratitude  and  honor,  which  the  sensibilities  of  a 
rescued  and  opulent  community  could  bestow.  The  as- 
sertion so  often  made  by  his  enemies  that  the  citizens 
of  New  Orleans  do  not  estimate  his  services  in  their  dc- 

11 


82 


BIOGRAPIIV    OF 


fence,  as  they  ought,  is  therefore  libellous  and  untrue. 
It  was  propagated  with  the  multitude  of  other  calumnies 
sent  abroad  prior  to  the  late  election,  with  the  view  of 
lessening  the  importance  of  those  services  in  the  estimation 
of  the  public.  As  it  has,  like  the  rest  of  its  kindred 
slanders,  proved  incapable  of  effecting  its  purpose,  it  is 
hoped  that  we  shall  hear  no  more  of  it,  and  that  the  foul 
reproach  of  ingratitude  will  be  no  longer  cast  upon  a  pa- 
triotic city  which  does  not  deserve  it. 

But  in  the  midst  of  triumph  and  honor,  Jackson  has 
been  doomed  to  endure  a  dispensation  of  the  most  afflic- 
ting nature.  It  would  seem  that  happiness  is  destined 
never  to  come  to  man  in  this  world,  perfect  and  unalloy- 
ed. When  the  tide  of  prosperity  flows  most  copiously 
and  unsulliedly  towards  us,  there  appears  to  be  almost 
a  certainty  of  its  being  checked  and  tarnished  by  a  sud- 
den dashing  upon  the  shoals  of  some  unforseen  calamity. 
Scarcely  had  authentic  intelligence  reached  the  dwelling 
of  General  Jackson,  that  his  cause  was  triumphant,  and 
his  election  accomplished,  when  she  who  had  been  long 
the  faithful  companion  of  his  life;  she  who  had  been  the 
solace  of  his  retirement  and  the  partaker  of  his  reproach, 
and  who,  he  fondly  hoped,  would  have  been  the  sharer 
of  the  high  honors  now  awarded  to  him — his  beloved 
wife — was  unexpectedly  taken  from  him  by  a  short  but  se- 
vere sickness.  She  became  indisposed  on  the  17th  and 
died  on  the  22nd  of  December.  The  distress  produced 
upon  the  mind  of  her  illustrious  husband  by  this  melan- 
choly event,  is  described,  by  one  of  the  physicians  that 
attended  her,  in  the  following  affecting  passage  of  a  com- 
munication to  the  editor  of  the  Winchester  Virginian. 

''■  How  shall  I  describe  the  agony. — the  heart  rending 
agony  of  the  venerable  partner  of  her  bosom!  He  had 


GENERAL  JACKSON.  83 

in  compliance  with  our  earnest  entreaties,  seconded  by 
those  of  his  lady,  left  her  chamber,  (which  he  seldom  per- 
mitted himself  to  do,)  and  lain  down  in  an  adjoining  room, 
to  seek  repose  for  his  harrassed  mind  and  body.  A  few- 
minutes  only  had  elapsed,  when  we  were  hastily  sum- 
moned to  her  chamber,  and  the  General,  in  a  moment, 
followed  after  us.  But  he  was  only  in  time  to  witness 
the  last  convulsive  effort  of  expirino;  nature!  !  Then  it 
was  that  all  the  feelings  of  the  devoted  husband  burst  forth. 
His  breast  heaved,  and  his  soul  seemed  to  struggle  with 
a  load  too  oppressive  for  frail  humanity." 

In  the  same  communication,  the  effects  of  this  mourn- 
ful occurrence  upon  the  minds  not  only  of  the  immediate 
connexions  and  domestics  of  the  deceased,  but  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  whole  adjacent  country  by  whom  she  had 
been  greatly  beloved,  is  related  as  follows. 

^*A  numerous  train  of  domestics  crowded  around  the 
bed  of  their  beloved  mistress,  and  filled  the  room  with 
their  piercing  cries.  They  could  not  bring  their  minds  to 
a  belief  of  the  painful  reality  that  their  mistress  diud  friend 
(for  such  indeed  she  was)  was  a  lifeless  corpse.  *'0h  !  is 
there  no  hope?"  was  their  agonizing  question;  and  vain- 
ly would  they  flatter  themselves  with  the  belief,  that  per- 
haps *<  she  was  only  fainting. 

"  The  distressing  event  spread  with  the  rapidity  of  the 
wind;  and  relatives  and  neighbors  thronged  the  house  from 
midnight  until  late  the  following  morning.  Soon  the 
painful  tidings  reached  Nashville  (12  miles  distant)  and  a 
fresh  concourse  of  friends  pressed  forward  to  show  their 
respect  for  the  dead  and  to  mourn  with  the  living.  A 
splendid  dinner  and  ball  which  was  to  have  been  given  to 
the  General  on  the  23d  instant,  previous  to  his  departure, 
were  indefinitely  postponed.  On  the  24th  the  stores  and 
shops  of  the  city  were  universally  closed,  and  business 
entirely  suspended.  The  same  day  (24th)  she  was  bu- 
ried in  the  garden,  attended  by  a  large  concourse  of 
weeping  relatives  and  friends.  The  General  followed 
the  corpse  to  its  <<  narrow  cell,"  supported  by  General 
Coffee,  his  old  friend  and  companion  in  arms,  and  Mr. 
Rutledge." 


84  BIOGRAPHY  OP 

The  following  dirge  to  the  Memory  of  JNIrs.  jackson, 
written  by  the  author  of  the  preceding  pages,  it  is  hoped, 
will  not  be  considered  unsiiited  for  insertion  in  this 
place. 

In  sorrow  sunk  beside  the  mournful  bier 

Of  her  who  long*  had  blest  his  bright  career, 

Th'  illustrious  chosen  of  his  country,  see, 

In  meekness  bending  to  the  stern  decree. 

View  there  a  struggle  which  all  hearts  must  move. 

The  hero's  firmness  with  the  husband's  love. 

Freemen !  'tis  he  whose  spirit,  prompt  and  brave. 

On  patriot  pinions  flew  your  realm  to  save  ; 

*Tis  he  whose  hand,  conducting  vict'ry's  car. 

Crushed  your  invaders  on  the  field  of  war ; 

Who  when  the  fierce  appalling  strife  was  o'er. 

Which  shook  the  land,  and  danger  was  no  more ; 

Contented  with  his  country's  thanks,  retired 

To  rural  shades,  nor  pomp  nor  power  desired. — 

But  well  his  worth  his  grateful  country  knew ; 

No  secret  shades  could  hide  it  from  her  view; 

And  to  its  proper  sphere,  with  loud  acclaim. 

She  drew  it  forth,  and  crowned  her  Jackson's  fame. 

But  what  is  power  or  splendor  to  his  heart. 
Now  doomed  from  all  that  formed  his  bliss  to  part  ? 
In  vain  around  his  brow  a  wreath  is  twined. 
The  fairest  ever  worn  by  human  kind. 
While  the  loved  mem'ry  of  that  lost-one  dwells 
Fresh  in  his  soul,  and  all  his  sorrow  swells. 
And  well  to  him  her  mem'ry  may  be  dear ; — 
Round  him  she  clung  with  holy  faith  sincere; 
Her  pride,  her  stay,  her  lover  and  her  lord. 
And  only  less  than  Heaven  itself  adored. 
She  loved  the  manly  heart  that  made  her  blest. 
She  loved  the  patriot  flame  that  warmed  his  breast. 
She  loved  the  tolls  that  could  his  virtues  wake. 
She  loved  ev'n  glory  for  her  husband's  sake. 
For  well  she  knew  that  he  was  glory's  heir. 
Though  envy  scoffed,  and  slander  did  not  spare. 


GENERAL    JACKSOX.  85 

His  noblest  deeds,  though  viperous  tongues  assailed, 
While  faction  triumphed,  and  deceit  prevailed. 
She  fondly  lioped  the  glorious  day  to  see. 
When  truth  would  vanquish  fiictlous  calumny.— 
Oh  shame  to  manhood !  that  our  times  have  seen 
Monsters  possessed  of  man's  uplifted  mein, 
Whose  hearts  the  base,  unfeeling  tale  could  frame, 
That  tried  to  blast  so  pure  a  being's  fame  ! 
Alas  !  we  know  them,  heartless  as  they  are. 
With  feeling,  truth  and  manliness  at  war, 
W^io  but  to  gratify  a  factious  end, 
The  poisoned  shafts  to  woman's  heart  could  send! 
And  thine,  much  injured  and  lamented  fair, 
'Tvvas  thine  the  torture  of  those  shafts  to  bear. 
Until  a  generous  nation  nobly  rose, 
And  hurled  disgrace  and  ruin  on  thy  foes. 
Then  to  the  world,  with  unstained  lustre,  shone 
Thy  honored  husband's  virtues  and  thy  own. 
While  shrunk  the  vile  assailants  of  thy  fame. 
From  public  scorn,  in  terror  and  in  shame. 
How  fervently,  in  that  auspicious  hour. 
Thy  thankful  bosom  blest  th'  immortal  Power, 
Whose  voice  the  justice  of  thy  country  woke. 
And  truth  in  thunder  to  thy  slanderers  spoke  ! 

Oh,  'twas  to  generous  minds  an  hour  of  pride. 
When  injured  innocence  was  justified. 
And  merit  drawn  from  its  concealing  shade. 
To  be  with  honor,  fame  and  power  repaid  ! 
Then  was  the  triumph  of  the  patriot  wife, 
Which  filled  with  ample  joy  her  cup  of  life. 
"  It  is  enough  !"  th'  illustrious  matron  cried ; 
And  blessed  her  country,  praised  her  God,  and — died  ! 

As  soon  as  the  state  of  his  afflicted  feelings  would  per- 
mit, General  Jackson  commenced  his  journey  for  the  seat 
of  the  national  government,  to  assume  the  functions  of  the 
high  office  to  which  the  voice  of  his  country  had  called 
him.     His  progress  was  marked  by  no  ostentation.     The 


S6  BIOGRAPHY  OF 

unambitious  simplicity  of  his  habits  and  manners,  inde- 
pendently of  the  present  affliction  of  his  mind,  was  averse 
to  pomp  and  parade.  The  people,  however,  came  forth  in 
multitudes,  wherever  he  passed,  to  testify,  at  once,  their  res- 
pect for  his  virtues,  their  sympathy  with  his  sufferings, 
and  their  gratification  at  his  triumph,  which  had  secured 
to  them  that  invaluable  and  glorious  privilege— the  right 
OP  SUFFRAGE,  in  which  alone  consist  their  freedom  and 
their  sovereignty. 


^.       \l 

,  ^=31 

li 

s  cm 

m  m^ 

i(«f(li*|ii'Sl|F';il?ll!l!lllliS|W!i[e!!lli|Ii5s?!i!!t>i^^ 


352  ft. 

4  in's. 

121  do. 

6  do. 

65  do. 

83  do. 

70  do. 

145  do. 

87 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  CAPITOL. 

The  Capitol  of  the  United  States  is  situated  on  an  area  enclosed  by 
an  iron  railing-,  and  including-  22  1-2  acres — the  building-  stands  on  the 
western  portion  of  this  plat,  and  commands,  by  the  sudden  declivity  of 
the  ground,  a  beautiful  and  extensive  view  of  the  city,  of  the  sur- 
rounding-heights of  Georgetown,  &.c.and  the  windings  of  the  Potomac 
as  far  as  Alexandria,    The  building  is  as  follows: 

Length  of  Front,       -        -         -        - 
Depth  of  Wings,       -         -         -         - 
East  projection  and  steps. 
West         do.  do. 

Covering  1^  acre,  and  1320  ft. 
Height  of  Wings  to  top  of  Balustrade, 
Height  to  top  of  centre  dome,  - 

The  exterior  exhibits  a  rusticated  basement,  of  the  height  of  the 
first  story ;  the  two  other  stories  are  comprised  in  a  Corinthian  eleva- 
tion of  pilasters  and  columns — -the  columns,  30  feet  in  height,  form  a 
noble  advancing  Portico,  on  the  East,  160  feet  in  extent — the  centre 
of  which  is  crowned  with  a  pediment  of  80  feet  span  :  a  receding  log- 
gia, of  100  feet  extent,  distinguishes  the  centre  of  the  West  Front. 

The  building  is  surrounded  by  a  balustrade  of  stone  and  covered 
with  a  lofty  Dome  in  the  centre,  and  a  flat  Dome  on  each  Wing. 

The  Representatives'  room  is  in  the  second  story  of  the  South 
wing — is  semicircular,  in  the  form  of  the  ancient  Grecian  theatre — 
the  chord  of  the  longest  dimensions  is  96  feet — the  height  to  the  liigh- 
est  part  of  the  domical  ceiling  is  60  feet  This  room  is  sun-ounded 
with  24  columns  of  variegated  native  marble,  from  the  banks  of  the 
Potomac,  with  capitals  of  white  Italian  marble,  carved  after  a  speci- 
men of  the  Corinthian  order,  still  remaining  among  the  ruins  of 
Athens. 

The  Senate  Chamber  in  the  North  wing  is  of  the  same  semicircu- 
lar form — 75  feet  in  its  greatest  length,  and  45  feet  high — a  screen  of 
Ionic  columns,  with  capitals,  after  those  of  the  temple  of  Minerva  Po- 
lias,  support  a  gallery  to  the  East,  and  from  a  loggia  below — and  a 
new  gallery  of  iron  pillars  and  railings  of  a  light  and  elegant  stricture 
projects  from  the  circular  walls — the  dome  ceiling  is  enriched  with 
square  cassions  of  Stucco.  The  Rotunda  occupies  the  centre,  and  is 
96  feet  in  diameter,  and  96  high.  This  is  the  principal  entrance  from 
the  East  Portico  and  West  stairs,  and  leads  to  the  legislative  halls  and 
library.  This  room  is  divided  in  its  circuit  into  panels,  by  lofty  Gre- 
cian pilasters  or  antoe,  which  support  a  bold  entablature,  ornamented 


S8  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  CAPITOL. 

with  wreaths  of  olive — a  hemispherical  dome  rises  above  filled  with 
large  plain  cassions,  like  those  of  the  Pantheon  at  Rome,  The  panels 
of  the  circular  walls  are  appropriated  to  paintings  and  has  relieves  of 
historical  subjects.  Passing  from  the  Rotunda,  Westerly,  along  the 
gallery  of  the  principal  stairs,  the  library  room  door  presents  itself. — 
This  room  is  92  feet  long,  34  wide,  and  36  high  ;  it  is  formed  into  re- 
cesses or  alcoves  for  books  on  two  sides,  by  pilasters,  copied  from  the 
Portico  of  the  Temple  of  the  Winds  at  Athens — a  light  stair  in  each 
corner  of  the  room  leads  to  a  second  range  of  alcoves,  and  the  whole 
is  covered  by  a  rich  and  beautiful  stuccoed  ceiling.  This  room  has 
access  to  the  Western  loggia,  from  which  the  view  of  the  city  and  sur- 
rounding country  appears  to  great  advantage. 

Besides  the  principal  rooms  above  mentioned,  two  others  deserve  no- 
tice, from  the  peculiarity  of  their  architecture — the  round  apartment 
under  the  Rotunda,  enclosing  40  columns  supporting  ground  arches, 
which  form  the  floor  of  the  Rotunda.  This  room  is  similar  to  the  sub- 
structions of  the  European  Cathedrals,  and  may  take  the  name  of  Crypt 
from  them:  the  other  room  is  used  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Unit- 
ed States — of  the  same  style  of  architecture,  with  a  bold  and  curiously 
arched  ceiling,  the  columns  of  these  rooms  are  of  a  massy  Dorick,  im- 
itated from  the  temples  of  Poestum.  Twenty-five  other  rooms,  of  va- 
rious sizes  are  appropriated  to  the  officers  of  the  two  houses  of  Con- 
gress and  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  46'  to  the  use  of  committees. 
They  are  all  vaulted  and  floored  with  brick  and  stone.  Three  prin- 
cipal staircases  are  spacious  and  varied  in  their  form:  these,  with  the 
vestibules  and  numerous  corridors  or  passages,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
describe  intelligibly:  we  will  only  say,  that  they  are  in  conformity  to 
the  dignity  of  the  building  and  style  of  the  parts  already  named.  The 
building  having  been  situated  originally  on  the  declivity  of  a  hill,  oc- 
casioned the  West  front  to  show  in  its  elevation  one  story  of  rooms 
below  the  general  level  of  the  East  front  and  the  ends.  To  remedy 
this  defect,  and  to  obtain  safe  deposits  for  the  large  quantities  of  fuel 
annually  consumed,  a  range  of  casemate  arches  has  been  projected  in 
a  semicircular  form  to  the  West,  and  a  paved  terrace  formed  over  them: 
this  addition  is  of  great  utility  and  beauty,  and  at  a  short  distance  ex- 
hibits the  building  on  one  uniform  level — this  terrace  is  faced  with  a 
grass  bank,  or  glacis,  and  at  some  distance  below,  another  glacis  with 
steps  leads  to  the  level  of  the  West  entrance  of  the  Porter's  Lodges — 
these,  together  with  the  piers  to  the  gates  at  the  several  entrances  of 
the  square,  are  in  the  same  massy  style  as  the  basement  of  the  build- 
ing: the  whole  area  or  square  is  surrounded  with  a  lofty  iron  railing, 
and  is  in  progress  of  planting  and  decorating  with  forest  trees,  shrubs, 
gravel  walks,  and  turf. — Elliott's  Ann.  CaL 


JLM'K.^CD^f'i  MAI1€H. 


K/.£t'tllin  ,  DIRECTOROr  MUSIC, CHKSNUT  ST.  THEATRE. 


^^'^^m'?^ 


^.-^^f^ffl^^ifei 


mMHIa 


i 


^^^^p 


k 


^pfei 


WWM 


m 


t::t± 


ii^sf^*^ 


ifijKf^ 


jc3|^^^L^ 


ssnzr 


orirjc  sTKs* 


I 


^^m^^m 


>Vi>'ilii4tiLi!l!A!A!A!i!i^^ 


!ULiU 


— ■ ■-— ■ ' ' ' ' ..-_*-   — 1 ■ ' 1_    J 1_     J '—  *        '       *        »        ■     ii L — 1- — I 1 LJ 1 Hi 1 1 J 1 L      i      A.J 1 I 1   ^^- 


Vn-:* 


t'w^ 


'^^ 


wmms:K 


